


The course of true love never did run smooth

by Asyouwishmycaptain



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Car Accidents, Coma, F/M, Missing Year (Once Upon a Time), True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 26,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28873731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asyouwishmycaptain/pseuds/Asyouwishmycaptain
Summary: Here’s my interpretation of the missing year...The rating will change later, and so the tags. I wrote the first 11 chapters, which, at least for the time being, are not particularly long, but I believe that later will become.The title is a quote from Shakespeare
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones & Henry Mills, Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

Emma looked behind the group of gathered people in front of her. A giant cloud of green smoke was on their way, ready to separate her from her newly found family, her friends, Neal and Hook. She turned hereyes to him, and they met each other. Like every other time his eyes too blue reflected his feelings. He seemed so broken and devastated at the idea of separating from her. The idea of leaving her. Yeah, leaving her. Everyone had always left her. Her biological parents. Foster families. Neal. And now he’d leave her, too. It didn’t matter that it didn’t depend on him: she started to have feelings for that man and now he was going to leave her. A bloody spell cast by that prick Peter Pan would have taken away that strong, passionate, romantic man who was completely devoted to her, the orphan Emma, just when she was beginning to accept that maybe she was falling in love with him. God, fairy tales were so much better in her world. In her world, the princess fell in love with the prince, and he loved her back, and they lived happily ever after. Yeah, okay, he was a pirate, not a prince, but anyway. Her life sucked so much.

Emma awoke from those thoughts that certainly would not help her to accept the situation and embraced Henry. He would stay with her. Her child, so precious and trusting. A true believer. Inexplicably he had always believed in her and in the possibility that she could solve every problem. Emma smiled at him. She would not be completely alone: her child, her special boy, would stay with her.

"Unfortunately you will not have memories of this life. Storybrooke. Or of us. I believe that in the misfortune we are about to experience, you two will be a little luckier. You will forget about us. You will not miss us. You will not miss lost parents, missing friends or missing loves." Regina explained, sobbing.

At those last words Emma saw Hook lower his head and his look, while Neal took a step towards them. "Regina. I must stay with them. I didn’t get to this land because of your spell, please let me stay with Henry. With both."

Regina looked at him for a few moments, before nodding slowly. "You will lose your memories too." The woman looked at him before continuing. "Even if you have come to this land another way, when Storybrooke disappears, the same thing will happen to your memories."

Neal nodded, approaching Emma. She walked away a few steps. No one noticed him, or everyone chose not to comment on her departure. "All right. All right. You said we’d have new memories. The three of us can start over. We will finally have our chance to be a family."

Emma started sobbing again. She would lose her parents and Hook and start living a lie, believing she loves Neal and believing she has a family with him. She felt her heart heavy and ready to break, but she could not do anything anymore. There was no more time and, above all, there was no more hope.

Regina signaled them to get in Emma’s car and leave. The three obeyed, in silence, without ever looking back for a last look. Emma knew that if she looked at those ocean eyes again, she would never be able to leave.

***

Regina and the rest of the group watched the little yellow car drive away, taking the three away from them.

"Do you think we can see them again someday?" asked Mary Margaret, in tears.

"I don’t know. After all, this is a kind of new spell, so maybe when they exchange a kiss they can break it and come looking for us."

Hook sighed. David approached him, friendly-handing him a shoulder. "It won’t work, Regina."

The woman looked at the prince, raising an eyebrow. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

He consciously looked in the direction of the pirate and nodded. "If true love’s kiss is our only hope for them to come back to us, well, you should have sent her true love with her. And hertrue love isn’t Neal, I think we’re all well aware of that."

Regina opened her eyes, looking alternately from David to Hook and vice versa, stunned by the fact that among all it was the Prince Charming to understand that those two, the Savior and the Pirate, were bound by true love, while everyone else had lost that connection. "Why didn’t you speak before? Now they’re gone, how can we fix it?"

Hook observed the discussion with confused expression.

"Give him new memories too. He will find her." David looked towards the pirate.

"Him? Who the hell are you talking about? Who is Emma’s true love?" 

No one answered him. He saw Regina raising both hands in his direction and a blue smoke came out of them and wrapped him. Before he could move or ask for clarification or draw his sword, the whole world became black and everything around him vanished.

***

The remainder of the initial group looked over the city’s border, where they saw Hook kneeling to the ground while he attempted to rise. Only that probably wasn’t Hook, not anymore. Probably that was now a cursed version of Killian Jones. They saw him stand up and look around confused. He was dressed as it was customary to dress in the land without magic, without sword and without eyeliner. He looked awfully young and lost. They saw him passing both hands in his hair. Both hands. No hook. He was no longer Hook.

"Do you think it will work? He looks scared." Mary Margaret asked, worried.

"It’s our only chance. It has to work." The other woman answered.

"What kind of memories did you give them? What kind of life will they live?" David asked, worried.

"I really don’t know. This spell has the power to give a person the life they wanted in childhood or youth. What they will live, what they will have to face, is totally dependent on their past desires."

Just at that moment the evil cloud came to them and wrapped them, swallowing them and taking them away, in another world, with broken hearts but with the hope that Hook, Killian Jones, would find Emma and Henry and bring them back to them.


	2. Chapter 2

Killian looked up, scared and worried. He had absolutely no recollection of how he had ended up in that situation and he certainly suddenly found himself on the ground, on the edge of a lost road who knows where, it was a rather strange and unusual situation so much that he should have known how it had ended up. And yet, no, he didn’t.

Once he got up he looked around and then looked at himself. He was wearing black jeans with a black T-shirt and a black and red plaid shirt. They looked like perfectly normal clothes, and yet, for some crazy reason, they didn’t seem to belong to him. He looked at his hands, finding them both perfectly normal, and yet this also seemed terribly wrong.

He shook his head more and more confused. He took the wallet from his back pocket (incredibly even having a wallet was a bizarre fact, for his confused mind) and opened it. He found his driver’s license (he had the impression that he had never driven, and yet here is a driver’s license in his name) and an identity document that contained his personal data (he remembered his name was Killian Jones, but that was the only thing that, apparently, was correct. His birth date was wrong - he didn’t think he was so young - and he was pretty sure he didn’t live in New York - that, to be honest, he wasn’t sure where it was). In addition to the wallet, in the pocket there was another object (which he had never seen before, but, inexplicably, knew to be a document holder). He studied it for a few seconds, before opening it and finding another identification document. According to this document (which confirmed his youth) he was a detective with the New York Police. His rank was Captain. Yeah, he felt a certain familiarity with that rank, but he was pretty sure he couldn’t be on the police. He had the impression that he had always lived on the other side of the law. It was all so confusing. 

He felt the other back pocket and heard keys. He studied them, but he had the distinct impression that even then those keys were an object unknown to him. He snorted slightly, before taking up his identity card and looking at it again. He shook his head and shook his shoulders, and began to walk.

After about an hour’s journey he saw the first houses, and after a few more steps he saw the bus station. He approached the ticket office a bit uncertain.

"Hello. How long before the first bus leaves for New York?" He asked the old ticket man.

"Two hours."

Killian nodded satisfied. He bought the ticket and then moved to the small bar near the ticket office, determined to eat something while waiting for departure. He wanted to eat pizza, but he actually had no idea what pizza was.

***

The journey was rather long and uncomfortable and when he arrived, late at night, he discovered that he knew perfectly the way to get to the address on his document. And yet he was certain he’d never been to that damn New York.

When he arrived at the foot of the palace he looked around, trying to remember if he had ever been there. No, he’d never been there, and yet he knew everything on that street. He even knew that old woman with the dog, in the corner of the small grassy square, was Mrs Perkins, his neighbor. He just never saw her. He entered the palace, confirming that he was completely unknown to him, and went up the stairs to the third floor, where he stopped at the door of apartment 36. He took the keys and opened the door, guessing which key was needed on the first attempt. The interior of the apartment, like everything else, was foreign to him, but, incredibly, he arrived without hesitation to the bedroom. He took off his shoes by kicking them away and lay on the covers, still dressed, and fell into a deep and exhausted sleep.

***

A few hours later the alarm clock rang. It was 6.30 am and Killian opened his eyes suddenly, frightened. He looked around, getting out of bed, calming down when he saw that he was in his room, in his apartment in New York. He clearly remembered the confused dream of the night before. He remembered feeling lost and wrong, but now that he was awake he could calm down, realizing he was in no danger. He looked at the bathroom mirror and snorted. He had probably exaggerated with beers and rum, while he was at the bar with colleagues (and then when he came home after). Easy.

He took a quick shower, got dressed, tried (in vain) to keep his hair in order and then took his jacket and went out to work. He went down to the palace garage and took his own car and left for the station. The dream of the night before practically forgotten.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma and Henry entered their palace, carrying bags full of Chinese food for dinner. Emma hoped that Neal was already home. He’d been coming home late at night for weeks, never being able to have dinner with her and Henry. She knew that sometimes, when a couple had been together for many years, they lost a bit of passion and harmony, but their situation seemed tremendously wrong. She didn’t remember when they made love last time. She didn’t even remember the last time they kissed. The thing that bothered her the most, though, was that she didn’t care. She and Neal were more roommates than partners. She was still lost in her thoughts when they finally arrived at their door. It was ajar. Apparently Neal had returned early.

When they entered the house, however, the image that received them was not what they had imagined. Everything was destroyed: it seemed that a hurricane had hit their house. Neal was sitting on the couch, holding his head in his hands, and he seemed completely overwhelmed.

"Dad?" Henry approached him fearfully.

"You are back..."

Emma watched alternately from him to the rest of the apartment. "What the hell happened here?"

Neal also looked around, as if only at that moment he had noticed the chaos that reigned in the apartment.

"I’ve had problems with people. People I owe money to. A lot of money."

"Fuck, Neal, again with this gambling thing?" Emma felt the tears fill her eyes. "Henry, please, go to your room."

The boy nodded and left his parents alone.

"Emma, I’m sorry. I-"

"No. No excuses. You promised. You said you’d quit and we could be happy. Well, I’m not. Our house is destroyed."

"Forgive me. Please. Let’s pack up and go. Let’s go wherever you want."

Emma shook her head, desperate.

"Emma, it’s dangerous to stay here. Let’s go. I can change. Let’s start again."

Emma looked at him for a long time before she spoke. "All right. I’ll pack up our things and then we’ll go. New York."

Neal looked at her and nodded, disconsolate.

***

They arrived in New York during the night and immediately looked for a motel to rest in. When they woke up that morning, they immediately went looking for a new apartment. After half a day of searching, finally, they found a tiny apartment in a building that probably needed restoration. It was in a quiet and not infamous area, though, and there was a school within easy reach. It was a starting point, a starting point, like another.

By dinner time they had already brought all their few things to their apartment, so, while Neal was sleeping on the couch (of course, he couldn’t help to fix and clean their new home) and Henry was putting his Xbox on the TV, Emma went out to get something for dinner.

When she arrived at the entrance of the palace she took a marker from her bag and stopped to write the names "Cassidy - Swan" on the mailbox. Another person was opening his mailbox to retrieve the mail.

"Just transferred?" He asked, with a deep and slightly hoarse voice and accompanied by a velvety English accent.

Emma looked up and for a few moments got lost in a pair of intense blue eyes. "Yes."

He looked at her, tilting his head slightly. It seemed like the kind of look you give to someone when you feel like you’ve met it again but you just can’t figure out where and how you met that person. "Have we met before?"

Emma opened her eyes wide and peeled. "Do you always try to approach women this way?"

He looked at her, muted and annoyed. "Approach? I’m not trying to approach anyone. I just felt like I’ve met you before, but you know what? Never mind. I’m sorry. Welcome to the palace." Having said that, he forcefully closed the mailbox and passed it, taking long steps towards the stairs.

Emma looked at him, feeling slightly guilty about how she had treated him. That was not a good way to settle in the new house. She snorted and headed to the exit, stopping first to read the name on the mailbox of the neighbor. K. Jones.


	4. Chapter 4

Killian came snorting into his apartment. The new residence of the palace was stunning, probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but it immediately proved terrible. He just wanted to welcome her and she thought he was trying to woo her. No problem. He would have been careful not to bother her again, since she didn’t seem interested in meeting the new neighbors.

He had thought of taking a shower and resting, after a long day’s work, watching one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on TV, but the irritation caused by the meeting with the new neighbor had bothered him to the point that he decided to go for a drink at the bar on the corner.

***

He sat on a stool at the bar and waited for the barlady to approach. "Hey, Captain! The usual?"

He looked at the woman, Angie, and he nodded, smiling.

She walked away for a few seconds, then came back with a glass half full of amber fluid. "How’s it going, Killian?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "As usual. Long day’s work. I need a drink before I go home."

Angie nodded sympathetically, before looking up at the front door. "Captain, there’s a blonde looking at you."  
Killian looked up and looked in the direction indicated by Angie. He did not believe his eyes when he saw the new neighbor standing at the door, looking at him. She seemed both guilty and annoyed. He looked away and looked back at the bottom of his glass.

He heard her sitting next to him, but he didn’t look at her.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier. I had a bad day. Well, I’d say more of a bad time and you didn’t deserve to be my relief valve."

He looked at her, nodded. "No problem, love. I know a little bit about bad days."

Emma looked at him, before nodding and handing him her hand to introduce herself. "Emma. Emma Swan."

He looked at his hand with suspicion before he melted into a smile a beautiful smile, to be honest) and shook it. "Killian Jones. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Swan."

Emma opened her mouth to talk, but she was interrupted by Angie’s arrival. "What are you having, honey?"

She looked at Killian’s glass. "Rum for me too. And a refill for him, if he wants more." Both women watched Killian, who nodded.

Angie came back with two glasses. "There you go, lads. Honey, don’t let our Captain charm you!" And she went away giggling.

Killian smiled and Emma looked at him intrigued. "Captain? What, are you a sailor? Or maybe a pirate?"

He laughed softly. "None of that. I’m a NYPD detective. Captain Jones."

Emma opened her eyes wide. "You look a little too young to be a police captain."

He shrugged his shoulders. "A couple of particularly daring missions, but according to my superiors were heroic missions, and a good deal of luck allowed me to be promoted earlier than expected." Emma was still a little incredulous, so Killian reached into his back pocket to retrieve his badge. He gave it to her, and she read clearly that Killian Jones, born in London on January 26, 1981, was indeed a New York City Police Captain.

"Okay. I’m sorry I doubted."

He shrugged his shoulders, again. "I must have a very suspicious face or be a scoundrel. And you, Swan?"

"I’m a bails bonds person. I’m gonna start working at a friend’s New York branch on Monday."

"Bails bonds person?"

"Yeah. That means we could work together sometimes, Jones."

He smiled. "I hope not, considering I work in the homicide and violent crime department."

Emma opened her eyes once again. "Really?"

He nodded, but said no more.

Emma looked at the clock hanging over the counter and sighed. "I have to pick up the Thai dinner next door. My son must be starving." She got up, a little hesitant, before looking at him again. "I’ll see you around, Jones."

He looked at her for a second before he responded to her greeting. "Can't wait, Swan."


	5. Chapter 5

Henry and Emma had started their new lives for about ten days, while Neal spent his days moving from bed to couch and vice versa. There had not been a day when they had not discussed and more than once she had thought of throwing him out of the house, certain that she and Henry would be better off without him.

She snorted, finishing preparing for the fake date he would have in the evening, to catch a man wanted for petty cons. She wore a strawberry-colored dress, tight and slightly low-cut, accompanied by dizzying heels, which made her legs look like kilometers. She took the small purse and joined Neal and Henry in the kitchen. "Guys, dinner’s in the oven. Neal, please don’t let it burn. I hope to be back soon." Henry hugged her tightly, while Neal waved at her.

***

The date was at the bar downstairs. Emma was sitting at a corner table waiting for her man, who apparently did not consider punctuality as an important quality. She snorted slightly when she heard the door open. She reached out to see if it was him, but saw Jones enter with a group of three men. They all had their badges on their belts, probably just finished their work and were enjoying a drink.

Killian looked around, looking for a free table, when he saw Emma. Immediately his face opened in a bright smile. He cheerfully greeted her, walking towards her. "Hey, Swan! You look great tonight!" As soon as he noticed what he had said, he reached behind his ear, scratching that point and pulling his hair slightly, he seemed uncomfortable and repented of what he had just said, remembering the reaction of her at their very first meeting.

Emma blushed. "Well, thank you. I have a date with a fugitive, so please go back to your friends and don’t ruin my job."

Killian tilted his head and nodded. "It’s a good thing, then, that you have four agents at your disposal, if need be."

Emma chuckled as he walked away with his hands in his pocket. Just at that moment the door opened again and finally her man entered. She saw him nervously looking around, first looking at Killian and the other agents, carefully studying them, and then at her. He approached her a little fearful, still glancing at the four policemen.

Emma got up and took a step to get close to him. "Travis? I’m Emma."

He, Travis, nodded, still looking over his shoulder.

Travis had certainly realized that the group was made up of policemen (or maybe he had seen the badges) and was ready to escape. Emma put her hand on his arm, trying to stop him. He looked at her scared and stepped back, bumped a chair and knocked it down, attracting the attention of Killian and his colleagues.

Travis sat at the table next to Emma, clearly uncomfortable with the presence of the cops. Emma tried to charm him with her feminine charm and distract him from the offensive presences behind his back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Killian looking in their direction and nodding thinly.

(Travis really was a womanizing prick. He certainly thought he was one of the most charming men on earth, but he certainly could not compete with those who really had innate charm and charisma. As, for example, Jones. Emma mentally bit her tongue when she realized that she had thought of the new neighbor as an example of a charming and irresistible male, instead of her partner. It mean, Neal had been charming once. Their relationship had cooled down a bit, of course, but nothing irremediable, right? Emma’s gaze unintentionally shifted to Killian, who was now on his back, chatting with Angie.)

After a few minutes of chatter, when Travis' hand rested on Emma’s knee, she took the opportunity to hook his wrists with handcuffs, retrieving the phone from the table to call her contact to the police to come and retrieve the bastard. That second distraction was enough for Travis to push her to the ground and try to escape. Escape is promptly interrupted by the fist that departs from Killian’s arm to crash directly into Travis’s nose, with a disgusting sound of broken bones and cartilage.

As the handcuffed man slumped on the chair, surrendering, Killian leaned over to help Emma get up. When she took the hand that he was handing her, they both felt like a rush through them. Emma looked at his hand, still tight in her own, and realized that it was large and strong, the perfect size to wrap and shake her, smaller and more delicate. Frightened of her thoughts, she abruptly let go, just as a man in police uniform entered the bar, who headed towards her to pick up Travis and bring him to the police station of competence.

Emma looked at Killian, still standing still beside her, and nodded as a thank you. "Well, thank you Jones. It wasn’t necessary, but thank you. Now I have to go, my son and my boyfriend are waiting for me at home."

She saw him open his eyes when she hinted at a boyfriend, but he recovered immediately and nodded goodbye, before returning to the bar and to his rum.


	6. Chapter 6

In the next six weeks they meet almost every day.

Sometimes they meet while Killian climbs the stairs, coming back from work, and she’s going on a fake date. He always offers her his help to watch her back, but she always refuses and always ignores how he looks at her legs, or breasts or, more often, lips and he blush when he notice that she have seen him.

Sometimes they meet while she is about to return to their palace after taking Henry to school and he returns after a run. He stops and greets her, pretending not to notice how she watches his biceps flexing at every movement or how his chest, muscular but not too much, pull the sweaty shirt (she doesn’t like a man with overdeveloped muscles. She tries to ignore the thought that Neal, her partner, is exactly like that, overly muscular), and he certainly pretends not to notice that she always waits a few seconds to get in, after him, so she could watch his ass wrapped in basketball shorts.

Sometimes they meet in the neighborhood’s small store while both shop. Emma always compares their carts. Her full of junk food and ready meals. His is filled with fruit and vegetables and meat and fish still to be cooked. His only transgression seems to be rum, for which, apparently, he has a real passion, considering that every time she sees him he always has a new bottle in the cart. In these cases they exchanging a few superficial chatter, talking about unimportant things, such as the weather or some news event happened away from them or some extravagant recipe that he tried recently (and that he succeeded perfectly).

Most of the time they meet when she’s alone, but sometimes Henry is with her. The first time, after Killian introduce himself, Henry is almost tempted to found the "Killian-Jones-fan-club", seen how fascinated and enchanted he was by their new neighbor. Every other time he meets her with her son, Killian always takes a few minutes to chat with the boy, always looking genuinely interested in what Henry tells (he is mainly interested in the scientific experiments, slightly explosive, that the boy did for the school. Even the search for history on the era of pirates inspires him a lot, to the point that asks Henry to read it. The boy is so excited that he immediately runs to get it. Emma believes that Killian takes it to not disappoint Henry, but ignores the fact that, instead, he will really read it, and will be so impressed, so that at the next meeting between Killian and Henry, the two spend several minutes discussing the research. Neal didn’t want to read it.)

A couple of times they also meet while she is with Neal. The first meeting between the three is rather bizarre. The two men look at each other as if they have a shared past. A bit of a dark past, but Emma knows it’s impossible, considering that, literally, that’s the first time the two have met. It amazes her a bit, however, that on that occasion Killian looks away from Neal, looking uncomfortable and guilty. Every other time they meet, Neal is always rather arrogant and mean to him, but Killian always seems to accept the contempt of man as if he deserved it.

Sometimes they meet at the park near their palace. He usually sits on a bench, under the sun, busy reading a book, while she walks the paths trying to gather her thoughts and remove the restlessness with which she has been living for almost two months. One day, after seeing him sitting at his usual bench, Emma decides not to limit herself to the simple exchange of pleasantries, but she decides to sit and chat, really talk to him.

"So, Jones, how long have you been out of England?"

"About 10 years. I moved after my brother died in a work accident." She opens her eyes and he shrugs his shoulders. "I came to America with my girlfriend, but after a few months she returned to London. She didn’t like the United States."

She nods. "We used to live in Boston, but Neal screwed up too much and we had to leave town." He looks at her in silence but understanding. After a few moments of silence, while he contemplates the horizon and she looks at him, Emma speaks again. "Are you living the life you wanted as a child?"

He looks up to the sky, reflecting, and Emma takes the opportunity to observe his profile, so masculine and delicate at the same time. Then he comes back to look at her and smiles gently. "I think so. My brother and I have always wanted to be heroes. We wanted to be someone that people could rely on in case of need. Joining the police allowed me to do it. I just hope, wherever Liam is, he can be proud of me and the man I’ve become."

She smiles and feels inside her heart that pride for him that he is talking about. "When I was little, all I wanted was to be part of a family. You know, I was abandoned on the side of the road a few hours after I was born and I spent my childhood from one foster home to another, so I couldn’t wait to be part of a family."

He looks at her intrigued. "Well, you have a family now, so your wish has been fulfilled, too."

She shakes her shoulders. "I don’t know. I love Henry, and I’ll always be grateful to Neal for him, but I often feel like I’m living a charade." He looks at her slightly tilting his head, understanding, and giving her all his support. "I don’t think I’ve been in love with him for years, but I think I’m too afraid of loneliness to leave him. And I don’t want to break Henry’s bond with his father."

"Swan, if you and Neal break up, he’d still be Henry’s father. You don’t have to sacrifice your happiness for that. Those two will always be father and son." He looks at her, pausing, and making sure he has her attention before continuing. "And in any case, your happiness does not depend on having a man in your life. You don’t need a partner or husband to feel complete or part of a family. Your family is Henry, if you’re not happy with Neal, you won’t lose your family. Henry will never abandon you. I have learned that our happiness cannot depend on other people, however important they may be. I’ve learned I'm enough, and I think you should too, Swan. Once you have learned this then, and only then, will you really be ready to truly give your heart to someone."

She looks at him, feeling her heart beating very strongly against her ribs, excited and stimulated by his words. And she understands that he is right. She doesn’t need Neal to be happy. Neal is not her family. Henry it's. "I think you’re right. I need to talk to Neal." Then she looks at him, reciprocated. "Have you learned to be alone or are you not yet ready to give your heart to another person?"

"Are you asking me if I have a girlfriend, Swan?" She blushes and nods, leading to a shrug. 

"No, I don’t have a girlfriend. I dated a woman for a couple of years, but it didn’t work. I think I’m destined to be alone, at least for now."

"I don’t think you’re gonna be alone much longer." She winks at him as she gets up and walks home. After a few steps she stops and looks at him from over her shoulder, smiling at him happily. He smiles too at her, happy and a bit amazed.


	7. Chapter 7

Emma is a little stunned by the fact that, when she talks to Neal and tells him that she is no longer sure of their relationship, he immediately agrees (and if she has to be honest, she is also a bit offended by this turn of the conversation).

"Shit, Ems, I thought I was the only one who felt this change. I’ve been feeling so bad the last few weeks, but I didn’t want to throw our family away."

"Henry is our family. And that’s never gonna change."

Neal nods vigorously, before holding her in an embrace that is almost fraternal. "Let’s talk with Henry. Explain the situation to him, and then I’ll pack up and find a new apartment in the neighborhood."

***

They talk to Henry who seems to understand and share their decision (actually his very first reaction is a childish and hysterical cry, but then seems to remember to be a preadolescent and calms down), he’s just slightly concerned that he might lose his connection to one of the parents, but they reassure him that it won’t happen and that they’ll love him forever (it also helps that Neal says that with separated parents he’ll have double birthday and Christmas gifts).

***

It’s late at night, so Emma tells Neal that he can stay until he finds an apartment, and their couch is quite comfortable and spacious. Neal agrees to stay for that night, but the next morning will move to the small hostel across the street, because if they have decided to take that road, the road of separation, is better a clean cut. Emma agrees with him.

She helps him lay the blankets on the couch before reaching their former bedroom, now her own, and getting into bed. She observes the ceiling of the room, thoughtful, and only after a long time realizes that it is painted with an intense blue ocean. It reminds her of Killian’s eyes. She feels blush at the thought of the neighbor and even slightly guilty about thinking of another man exactly the same night she broke up with Neal. She has to be honest with herself, though, and admit that she has been thinking about her neighbor exactly since their first meeting. He is an attractive man, even too much perhaps, and at times seems too aware of it (at other times, on the contrary, he seems shy and self-conscious, almost insecure of himself). Emma finds herself wandering with her mind and begins to wonder how many single days it will take before it is socially acceptable for her to ask Killian out. She and Neal are mutually agreeing, so she thinks a couple of weeks might be more than enough. God, those two weeks are gonna seem so long, when all she wants to do is walk out of the apartment, knock on the front door and kiss him until he's a hot mess. Suddenly she wonders if he’s attracted to her, too. She knows she looks good, especially when she puts in a lot of effort with makeup, hairstyle and clothing, but apart from openly appreciating her appearance, he’s always been a gentleman. She’s a little concerned that maybe he might find her beautiful, maybe even sexy, but not really interested. Emma is about to fall asleep, when she decides that in the next two weeks, waiting to act, she will flirt in every way with him, to make clear her intentions.

***

Killian has been lying in bed for almost an hour, tired (despite not being on duty today) but unable to relax and sleep. He continues to relive in his mind the conversation he had at the park with Emma. He hopes to have given her the right advice (he is not sure) and especially he is afraid of not being able to resist asking her out, now that she will probably become single. They’re creating a good friendship, and he doesn’t want to ruin it by trying to take off her panties, and he’s not a fool, he knows that she’s attracted to him too, even if he pretended not to notice, he knows that she looks at him and realizes that she has a predilection for his ass (although in reality he is a bit 'in love with her and would like to go out with her, rather than take off her panties. Obviously he would like to do that too, he is a young man and healthy and she is a gorgeous woman). And in any case, she’ll need some time with herself, after ending a more of ten-year relationship with another man, it’s not the case that she embark on another story immediately. He decides that from now on he will make clear his desire to be just friends. He knows to get Emma out of his mind, so it might be helpful to date another woman. There’s Sandy, who works at the station, and has been practically courting him since he started working on it. But he could also choose any of the women who are always trying to approach him while he is at the bar, alone or with colleagues. Yes, he has decided. He will go out with a woman (or perhaps more than one) and he will have to make sure that Emma knows.

***

The next morning, Emma gets up early. She knows that Killian will be at the station today and that he will be leaving home soon, so if she wants to meet him and start courting him, she must hurry up and make sure to meet him "casually".

She took a shower, put on her best pair of jeans and even put on makeup, before leaving house and start walking in front of the mailboxes, trying to look indifferent. When she looks at the phone to see the time, she sees that it’s almost 8:30 AM, so Killian must already be at work and she missed him (she also curses for forgetting to wake up Henry, who is probably still asleep, and who today will miss school).

She’s a little bitter about the failure of her plan, but today is Friday, so she knows Killian won’t be working overtime, so at 5:30 p.m., he comes home and she can try to ambush him a second time.

She fail again. She goes down to the entrance of their palace at 5:00 PM to make sure she can meet him, but she knows she has to surrender when at 7:00 PM there is still no sign of him. She’s angry and annoyed that when she wasn’t interested in going out with him, she met him all the time, and now that she wants to, honestly, fuck him for three whole days, he literally seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. If she wasn’t certain otherwise, she might think he was avoiding her. He’s not avoiding her, is he?


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, being Saturday, she has no idea of his plans, so she spends the day too close to their front door to try to pick up if and when he leaves his house. Henry looks at her with a perplexed expression, but he doesn’t ask questions, not for the first two hours, anyway. She is grateful to him for avoiding this embarrassment (and she is also grateful that Neal is no longer at home to witness that pathetic scene. She is sure that he could make fun of her forever. The tough Emma Swan who spies on the boy she has a crush on, terrified by the idea of talking to him.)

"You know, you could just go to his door and knock." Henry mumbles, at some point, without looking up from the Harry Potter book he’s rereading for, like, the millionth time.

Emma feels blush, but tries to save her dignity in front of her son. "What are you talking about? Why should I go knocking on Killian’s door?" Evidently her attempt fails and she feels even more blush.

"You’re literally eavesdropping and snapping at every noise you hear coming from the landing. And you just confirmed that this matter, whatever it is, is about Killian. Anyway, he’s not home right now."

Emma opens her eyes wide. "How do you know he’s not here?"

Henry shrugs his shoulders. "Because I texted him an hour ago to ask if he was home and he said he wouldn’t be there all day."

"Wait, you have our neighbor’s phone number? Why I don’t I have it?"

"Probably because you didn’t ask. I did, I had to do some research on England, and he’s the only English I know, so I asked him if I could ask him a few questions, and after helping me with my homework, he left me his number in case I had any doubts or needed more information."

Emma’s stunned. "Hey, you didn’t tell him what I’m doing now, did you?"

"No, of course not. How dare I could meet him again or look him in the eye, if I tell him the pathetic scene that is happening in this house?" He looks at her severely. "I told him I wanted him to read my research."

"Ah, good. Did he tell you where he was going?"

Henry looks at her sharply and with a bit of embarrassment. "Well, he’s at work this morning and he’s going to play basketball with friends in the afternoon." Henry’s taking a break, uncomfortable. "He’s got a date tonight."

"Wait, what?" Emma tries to keep her dignity intact. But evidently she also fails in that, judging by the look of pity on his son’s face. "I just wanted to ask him about, uh, work."

"Sure." Henry doesn’t believe her at all, she’s a terrible liar. "You know, after lunch we could go for a walk around the neighborhood. Maybe we could make it to my school."

Emma looks at him, not understanding the meaning of his speech. "Why should we go to your school? It’s Saturday."

"Yes. That’s very good. But as you’ll recall, there’s a basketball court next to my school."

Emma still doesn’t understand. "Do you want to go play basketball? I thought you didn’t like it."

"Indeed. But Killian likes it. And that’s where he goes to play with his friends."

Emma opens her eyes wide, a bit embarrassed by the fact that her son thinks that she needs help to be able to get close to their neighbor. "Yeah, well, I can tell him what I had to tell him the next time I meet him."

Henry looks at her strangely before he shrugs his shoulders and returns to his book.

***

Emma seems agitated for the rest of the morning. Henry sees her constantly swirling in the vicinity of the door and when she notices his sharp look she walks away a few feet pretending indifference.

After lunch, while washing the dishes, Henry notices that she keeps looking towards the door.

"So, that walk?" he asks.

She sighs. "Let’s put on our shoes and go out."

Henry chuckles and she snorts.


	9. Chapter 9

The walk to the basketball court is rather short and fast, in less than ten minutes they arrived. They hear the excited and amused voices of the guys playing and Emma feels the anxiety and panic flow in her. She immobilizes when she sees him run and jump, laughing amused.

He looks much younger, his hair is more messy than usual, and he looks slightly sweaty (not as when she sees him after he has made his daily run, when the droplets of sweat flow from his temples up to his neck and she has repeatedly thought of wanting to taste his wet skin with fresh sweat, to feel the salty taste. She realizes that it’s a bit of a strange thought to do and tries to store it in a drawer in her mind, but certain parts of her body are waking up to the idea of passing her tongue down the neck of Killian Jones.), he wears black basketball shorts, which reach just above his knee, and she is fascinated by the sight of his strong calves flexing at every move, and a black T-shirt with a pirate skull, which is definitely too tight on his pectoral muscles.

She hears Henry clear his voice and when she looks his son in the eye he makes an eloquent expression, hinting at Killian with just the eye movement, and she realizes that their neighbor caught her looking at him (Emma is afraid of looking at him as if he were a delicious pastry and she was starving). The game seems to have been paused, she hears her friends giggling as he slowly steps off the field and approaches her.

"Hey, Swan. Hey there, lad." He looks at them curious. "What do you do around here?"

Emma opens her mouth to answer something, anything, but nothing comes out. Fortunately her son decides to help her. "Oh, we were going to the store to get some ice cream." Henry points to the store just ahead and Emma nods vigorously, thanking him mentally. 

"Yes. Ice cream." She realizes that she seems ridiculous and even a little pathetic, considering the way he’s looking at her. "What are you doing?"

He chuckles, spreading his arms, as if to show his outfit and nods his head toward the basketball court. "It seems pretty obvious what I’m doing, Swan."

She feels blushing and feels Henry sighing embarrassed. "Oh. Yeah. Sure."

He arches an eyebrow, always smiling. "You seem a bit strange today, Swan. More than usual anyway."

Henry chuckles at his mother’s bewildered expression. "Well, this whole conversation is so weird, guys. Mom, I’m going to the store to get ice cream. I’ll see you at home."

Emma nods and looks at him briefly as he walks away.

"So, Swan, what’s going on?"

She turns her attention back to her object of desire and at that moment she notices a tiny drop of sweat passing through his beautiful face. The drawer in which she had laboriously stored her unseemly thoughts and a bit of a sexual maniac, reopens and she would like to lean out and pick up that cheeky drop with her tongue. She realizes that she has taken a step forward towards him when, inhaling, she can feel the light scent of fresh male sweat, combined with his cologne and that perfume that apparently is totally his essence, salt, sea, leather, rum and wood.

"Swan?" He looks at her slightly frowny. "Swan, are you sure everything’s okay?"

She nods, for some reason her mouth refuses to make any sound.

He seems more and more confused. "Did you talk to Neal?"

Neal. Right, she and Neal broke up, and now she can ask Killian out on a date with her. She wants to go out with him, she wants he take her out to dinner, then they go for a drink, maybe they could even dance, and then he could drive her at her home (which is also his home) and give her a kiss good night (she doesn’t just want a good-night kiss, she wants to fuck him until he’s reduced to a boned pile, but it wouldn’t be the case to get to that, on their first date. And she should also refrain from licking his face, and any other part of his body, so as not to frighten him. She’s starting to fear herself too). "I talked to Neal. We’re not together anymore."

"Oh."

"Yes, he’s staying at the hostel next door."

"And you’re okay with that?" he asks, slightly intimidated.

"Great. Great. There’s one thing I’d like to ask you about." Emma doesn’t realize that he’s stepping back, moving away. "Well, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out. With me. On a date."

"On a date?"

"Yeah, you know, when two people like each other and decide to get to know each other better. That’s what dating is for."

"Do we like each other?"

Emma opens her eyes wide, embarrassed and agitated. "Well, yes. No? I thought so."

"We’re neighbors, Emma. I don’t think we can even consider ourselves friends, not yet."

She feels blushed, offended and humiliated by what is, of course, a rejection. "I saw the way you look at me. Don’t look at me like a neighbor or a friend would. I have seen the desire to kiss or even do something else in your eyes several times."

"Swan, I think you misunderstood. I mean, I’m a young, single, I look at almost every woman in our building like that."

"Don’t look at Mrs Perkins like that."

"Shit, Swan, that woman is old enough to be my grandmother. Anyway, really, you misunderstood the appreciation looks. I’m not interested in deepening our knowledge in that sense."

Emma lowers her head, suddenly fascinated by the cracks in the sidewalk. "I’m sorry. I didn’t want to create this awkward situation."

"Don’t worry, Swan. But I hope that doesn’t stop us from being friends. I like to chat with you. And I also like Henry."

She looks up, picking up his sweet smile. "I want us to be friends too. Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? To start our friendship?"

She sees him grimacing and scratching his hair slightly behind his right ear. "Well, tonight I have a date, but maybe another time?"

Emma curses herself. Tonight he has a date. She had completely forgotten him, in her embarrassing wandering between droplets of sweat and speeches. "Oh, sure. One more time. Sure. Tomorrow night, maybe?" God, she's making herself so pathetic.

He smiles. "Tomorrow night would be perfect."

Emma nods, before escaping embarrassed and reaching Henry, who is leaving the store.

***

Killian watches her for a few moments, feeling his heart slightly break. He know he's been a little more distant with her than he thought he'd be, but he panicked when he realized how she was trying to jump into a relationship too soon, with him or anyone else, so he preferred to use a clear cut. Of course that’s what’s best for her. Well, it’s not exactly certain, but he hopes it. He really wants to be in Emma Swan’s life. He wants to protect her and keep her safe, she and her son.


	10. Chapter 10

Emma and Henry return home in silence. She feel the look of her son burning a hole in her head, but tries to ignore it. When they get back to their apartment, he decides it’s time to talk.

"I have the vague impression that it did not go as you had hoped."

"Well, no, I wasn’t hoping to be rejected and humiliated like that. I certainly didn’t wish he tell me that him just want to be my friend."

"He put you in the friend zone?!"

"Yes, kid. I left your father after over twelve years because there was nothing between us and the boy I’m interested in, he politely rejected my advances. I think I need to work a little bit on my femininity. And right now my self-esteem needs a boost as well."

Henry gives her a friendly pat on the shoulder and Emma snorts at the idea that her nearly 12-year-old son is trying to comfort her after a amorous rejection. "I think you should go out tonight, mom."

"Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

"I’m just a kid, I don’t know where sad adults go."

"I am not sad."

"Anything at all. You should put on a nice dress, go to a bar or a club or wherever the adults go, and let a man buy you a drink."

"I can’t believe my son is telling me this."

"Well, if he doesn’t want to go out with you, it’s his loss. I don’t think you should go out with another man, I really think it would be too soon, between the breakup with dad and Killian’s rejection, but you could get a drink or two."

Emma nods. "You are right. Let’s see if your dad can stay with you tonight?"

Henry nods satisfied, while Emma sends a message to Neal asking if he is free and willing to take care of their son. He answers almost immediately. He’s free and can’t wait to spend some time with Henry.

***

It’s 8:00 PM when Emma walks into the bar on the corner. She could have gone somewhere a bit more sophisticated or fashionable, but she actually likes that place and if no man were to attempt an approach with her, at least she could chat a bit with Angie.

She immediately notices her mistake, as soon as she crosses the threshold and sees, at one of the side tables, Killian, sitting with a woman in front of him. She tries not to look at them, going towards the bar. She fails, when she finds himself sipping a small glass of rum, studying them openly.

Killian wears very tight black jeans, with a white shirt with the first open buttons that show the dusting of hair on his chest. He’s handsome and charming, so confident. Emma turns her attention to his date. She’s about her age, looks quite tall, as far as she can judge from her sitting position, long red hair. She wears a blue dress so tight that Emma is worried that she can’t breathe. She has really big boobs. It mean, they’re huge. Okay, they’re not that big, but Emma’s used to her small breasts that the other woman’s looks pretty extreme. Killian doesn’t seem to complain, seeing as how he’s peeking into the redhead’s cleavage. Emma snorts, noticing the legs of the woman (kilometers and perfect legs). The woman has her legs crossed gracefully and with her foot raised, rubs delicate circles against Killian’s calf. Emma is fairly certain that their evening will end with one of the two at the other’s house and their clothes scattered throughout that house.

"It’s the first time I see him with a woman." Emma almost jumps as soon as she hears Angie’s voice behind her back. She turns to look at the woman, who looks at her curiously.

"Yeah, well, it looks like things between those two are pretty hot and intense, so maybe we’ll see them together again."

The barlady laughs. "You and I know that everything about Jones is intense. He’s intense."

Emma looks at her with an eyebrow raised. "Are you interested in him?"

The other woman laughs amused. "Honey, I’m old enough to be his mother. As good a chocolate as he can be to look at, I’m too old for a man of his own energy."

Emma chuckles back in response.

Angie briefly looks at the couple, tilting her head. "But I don’t think there will be a second date."

"Why?" Emma asks, quietly.

"He never looked her in the eye."

"Well, in case you haven’t noticed, she put some pretty mind-blowing boobs on the table. I think distracting attention from those is pretty hard, if not impossible."

"Yeah, it’s possible." Angie looks Emma right in the eye. "But, you know, I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who really appreciates these things. I mean, for a one-night stand, maybe. But I know he wants a serious relationship. He’s tired of being alone and that woman is not for him."

"Do you believe?"

"I’m sure of it."

Emma keeps quiet for a few seconds. "And how do you think is the woman for him?"

Angie looks her amused. "Do I really have to answer? Do you really want to hear my answer? What is it, honey, do you need a boost of self-esteem?" Emma nods and the woman keeps talking. "Emma, I think we both noticed how he looks at you. He looks at you, he really looks at you. He sees you."

"I don’t know. I asked him out today, and he turned me down."

"Really? I don’t think he really did."

Emma looks at her confused. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"He’s sitting there with that hot-air balloon-titted woman, but he’s been watching you for at least five minutes." Emma is about to turn to him to see if Angie is telling the truth when the woman puts her hand on her arm, stopping her. "Don’t turn around. I think he knows we’re talking about him. Shit, he’s getting up. He’s coming here."

Emma jumps, feeling her heart beating hard against the ribs. She feels his perfume (God, how she likes it and how she is excites by it) before she even sees it. She hears him leaning against the bar with his side, before leaning towards her and whispering in her ear. 

"Good evening, Swan." Emma is grateful to be seated, because his closeness, combined with his scent and caressing voice, would reduce her legs to jelly.

"Oh, Jones! What a surprise, I didn’t know you were here."

He makes a mischievous grin. "Really, Swan? And I thought I was being watched by you from the moment you walked in here."

Emma knows she’s blushing, but tries to pretend indifference. "I was actually talking to Angie."

"Ah, it’s true. I noticed that at some point you stopped looking at me. But, Swan, I know you were talking about me here with our friend Angie."

"You’re so self-centered."

"Really?" He chuckles.

"Isn’t it a little rude to leave your date alone to chat with us?"  
Killian looks at the redhead and nods his head. "Oh, I’ll be right with her. I just told her I saw my lovely neighbor and I wanted to give her my warmest regards."

"God, do you always talk like that?"

He laughs and Emma thinks she might fall in love with his hoarse, deep laugh. "Well, Swan, now that I’ve fulfilled my duties as a good neighbor, I’m going back to my lovely date. See you tomorrow, Swan." 

He winks at her, leaning his tongue to lick his lower lip. (Emma knows she has to file that image along with that of the sweat droplets like immediately, before doing anything embarrassing, like taking him by the shirt and slamming him with his back against the counter and kissing him as if it depended on their lives.)

"Be careful not to suffocate, should you venture near those two big balloons." Grumbles Emma softly, causing him another amused laugh.

"Jealousy suits you, Swan."

Emma snorts, watching Angie, who watched the whole scene amused.

"I confirm what I said before, honey. I think he’s completely, totally, insanely, crazy about you. Just like you."

"Then why wouldn’t he go out with me?"

"That’s a very good question. But you have to ask him, he’s the only one who can answer you. Ah, by the way, what’s going to happen tomorrow?"

Emma blushes. "I invited him to dinner."

Angie smiles smugly. "Well. Tomorrow night you might find out why he rejected you, when, evidently, he would love nothing more than to worship you."


	11. Chapter 11

Sunday morning Emma wakes up too much early and definitely before her usual time. She’s lying in her bed, sleepy but excited about the idea of a date with Killian. Well, it’s not really a date. On a date with a guy, you don’t usually show up with your prepubescent son, and certainly not on the first date. And, by the way, it’s not a date because, despite what Angie claims, Killian made very clear that he didn’t want to know her that way.

The barlady is right about one thing. Killian is attracted to her, with his constant flirting and half-jokes. But perhaps he is also right when he says he is a young man, single and healthy and therefore attracted to any woman. No, Emma knows that’s not true. The woman who was with him last night was a hottie, any man in the club would want to be in Killian’s place, but he still managed to notice her and join her for a chat. He wasn’t so attracted to the redhead, apparently (despite the frequent glances he gave to the woman’s abundant neckline). Okay, so maybe Angie’s right, he likes her.

This sudden realization and awareness give her the push and the charge to start the day at best. Emma slips into the shower, then puts on a pair of leggings and a long sweatshirt, before reaching the kitchen. She takes a piece of paper and writes a message to Henry before she leaves the house. There’s a diner a way up from their building, and Emma wants to go buy a box of donuts and hot chocolate for their breakfast.

Less than half an hour later she is walking down their landing when she clearly hears a door about to open. And of course it’s Killian’s door. She gets a nice smile on her face that is soon frozen, when she sees him showing up busy to dismiss the redhead of the previous evening. She is clearly dressed like the night before (she’s a bit strung and wrinkled by what she imagines are their chamber activities), while Killian wears only a pair of blue jeans, not laced and showing simple black boxers. Emma wants to hide, disappear or be swallowed up by a portal to another world, but of course, at that moment he looks up and sees her. The smile he gives her is so bright that, Emma is sure, it could light up all of New York. She feels blushing furiously.

"Hello, Swan!" He greets her warmly and Emma simply nods, still motionless and frozen on the spot. He seems a bit confused and puzzled, but brings his attention back to the woman waiting in front of him. "Ah. Yes. Well, then I’ll see you tomorrow, Sandy."

The redhead, Sandy, smiles in response and leans out for a final kiss, which he deflects by turning his cheek. Emma shouldn’t be doing it (she knows she shouldn’t be doing it), but inside she hears a little voice screaming, 'Take this, you and your big tits!'. The redhead shrugs her shoulders and walks to the elevator.

"So, Swan, are you glued to the floor?" He seems amused by the situation.

"Ah, ah, ah. How funny you are in the early morning." She tries to hold back the laughter, but fails a bit.

"Are those donuts?"

She hands him the box, which he opens and studies with a satisfied smile. He takes a donut without any icing, simply sprinkled with sugar, and bites it immediately, while returning the box.

"You’re hungry, I see."

"Yeah, well, we ordered a pizza last night, but we didn’t eat it after all."

Emma feels the icy blades of jealousy creeping into her chest, to the idea that they were too busy and distracted by something else to eat something. "So tomorrow you’ll see her again." He looks at her, apparently without understanding what she’s talking about, so she points to the elevator. "The redhead. Sandy."

He opens his eyes almost comically and then nods vigorously. "Well, yes. I actually expect to see her every day for the next few years."

Emma looks down. "Ah. I understand."

He chuckles and she looks at him confused. "Sandy works at the station, Swan. That’s why I’ll see her every day for the next few years."

She feels her cheeks warm and her smile widen. "Good."

He arches an eyebrow, amused. "I’m a little offended that you, my future best friend, are satisfied that my date didn’t go well enough to want to repeat the experience."

She chuckles and shrugs. "Future best friend? And why didn’t your date go well?"

"Because she talks too much. She talks always, always, always. And by always I mean always. Every moment. At one point I thought I’d have to cover her mouth with something." He gives her a mischievous smile and a bit of a scoundrel. "And she wouldn’t let me eat my pizza. I need food, so much food and frequently, and that woman wouldn’t let me eat anything." He rubs his hand on his stomach, as if to console himself for the missed dinner. Emma follows the movement and she is distracted by the ripples of his muscles, sculpted but not invasive. "Swan, focus on my eyes, I’m up here." Emma gets blush and when she looks at him, she sees him giggling. "Well done, Swan. You know, I thought you had a weakness for my butt, but apparently it's not the only one."

"I don’t have a weakness for your butt!" Emma feels her cheeks on fire.

"No, of course." He goes out on the landing, getting a few steps closer. "And by the way, my date didn’t go well because I don’t really like redheads." He takes another step forward, taking himself exactly in front of her, who is forced to raise her head to look him in the eye. He leans over, approaching their faces and Emma is sure that he is going to kiss her and damn it, she did not brush her teeth before leaving. But he does not kiss her, tilts his head slightly and brings his lips to her ear, before whispering something with a hoarse and velvety voice. "I have a weakness for blondes." Emma squeaks and he laughs, with his deep, hot laugh (and that she already loves). He leans against the wall in front of her and raises his hands, showing two donuts, one by hand, which he stole while she was distracted by their proximity.

Emma snorts. "That’s not funny."

He laughs again. "Yes, it is."

She smiles because yes, it’s funny. He’s funny. "See you tonight then? Okay at 7:00?"

He nods. She smiles at him one last time before going home.

***

Once she’s safe, she leans on the door and sighs. "I’m so fucked!" And she thinks maybe, maybe, Angie’s right.


	12. Chapter 12

Emma spends the rest of the morning tidying up and cleaning up the mess that is her apartment. Henry showed up to eat a few tons of donuts and then he went back to his room. He only shows up around lunchtime to find out what he and his mother are going to eat for lunch. Obviously, Emma’s not cooking, but she’s going through the take-away menus of the neighborhood restaurants.

"Chinese or Thai? Or something else?" She asks him.

Henry shrugs his shoulders. "It’s all the same to me. Um, mom?" Emma looks up and looks at him. "What are you going to prepare for dinner?"

"Why should I ever cook dinner? Do you want me to burn down our house?"

"Well, you invited Killian to dinner, you can’t just put a menu in his hands and ask him what to order."

Emma opens her eyes wide. Henry’s right. "Fuck."

"Yeah. We can make something simple. Sometimes spaghetti is good for you." Emma leans her head on the kitchen counter and starts whining. "Or you can ask him what he’d like to eat."

"Henry, he cooks. I saw whole chickens and fish still with their heads in his cart. He could probably ask me something very difficult."

Henry nods, brooding. "Then you could ask him to come here early and help you cook. You could tell him that you want to learn how to cook and that you know he’s very good and so he could teach you."

"You’re so bloody brilliant, son." Emma spreads her arms to hold her son. "Now, come to us, what shall we order for lunch?"

Henry chuckles.

***

After calling the restaurant and ordering their lunch (they chose Chinese), Emma decides to go knock on Killian’s door.

He opens almost immediately and when he sees her he seems slightly worried. "Swan. Is everything okay?"

"Of course."

Now he seems more confused than worried. "So what can I do for you?"

Emma rubs her hands and looks at the floor, embarrassed. "About tonight. I don’t cook."

"Yeah, well, given what’s usually in your cart, I had a hunch."

She snorts. "No, I mean I’m not really capable of it. I could burn down the whole building."

"God, no, I like our building. It’s a good neighborhood." Emma chuckles. "But that doesn’t answer my question. What can I do for you?"

"Would you like to teach me? To cook, I mean."

He smiles softly. "It would be a pleasure and an honor, Swan. In that case, do we want to move our dinner to my apartment? I have some doubts that you’re not well-stocked with kitchen accessories."

"Hey, I got two pots!"

"Wow!"

They both laugh fun. 

"Okay, we’ll come to you. What time?"

"How about a couple of hours?"

Emma nods, before she runs off, literally, to her apartment.

Killian looks at her giggling before going back to his apartment.

***

Once back in, he closes the door and leans on it with his back, sighing. "I’m so fucked!". He'll never be able to just be friends with her.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer...
> 
> I’m a fan of cooking flirts, so here are our two heroes busy flirting and cooking.
> 
> I am Italian and what you find in the chapter is myb family's recipe to cook lasagna!

It’s about 4:00 in the afternoon when Emma and Henry leave their apartment to reach Killian’s door. Emma is a bit tense. She’s never been in his apartment and she’s also a little curious to see it.

Once inside, she realizes that the floor plan of the apartment is the same, while the style of furniture is totally different. Emma and Neal had found their apartment already furnished and they never thought to invest in any change. Killian, on the other hand, seems to take great care of his home. Everything is perfectly clean, almost maniacally, with almost military precision. Emma thinks she could probably eat on the floor long as it’s clean. The living room is occupied by a large black leather sofa, slightly worn and soft looking. A huge TV hangs on the wall and underneath it, resting on a small shelf, there are all the video game consoles in existence in the world. Emma feels Henry inhaling deeply, a sign that he too has seen them. Killian now, as she's sure, has stolen to her Henry’s number one favorite person list.

Killian chuckles, sign that he understands what they’re looking at. "Well, Henry, my boy, go ahead and have fun." Henry hugs him briefly before jumping on the couch and choosing a game.

"I didn’t think you were a fan of video games. That kind of squeaks with your tough cop side. What even more strides with what, apparently, is your passion for housekeeping." Emma smiles amused.

"There’s so much you don’t know about me, Swan." He winks at her before he takes her to the kitchen. Which is even cleaner than the living room, if that’s possible. It is furnished exactly with the same furniture (as probably every kitchen in the building), but warm and welcoming where her is cold and impersonal. "So, Swan, I was thinking lasagna. What do you think?"

"Lasagna? Can you cook lasagna?"

"Of course I did. When I moved from England, my first neighbor was an old Italian lady. She was widowed and childless and practically adopted me. She taught me how to cook, in fact I’m pretty good at Italian cuisine."

"God, Henry and I love Italian food."

"Excellent. So, shall we start making the sauce?"

Emma nodded and watched him open the refrigerator to extract a large packet of minced meat, tomato sauce, onions, celery and carrots. He hands her a large knife and a wooden cutting board and signals her to clean and chop the vegetables. Meanwhile he retrieves a bottle of red wine.

"If this is not a date, wine is not very suitable."

"I like the way your mind works, Swan, but wine is not for you. And it'snot for me."

"Are you going to make my son drink?"

He chuckles. "No, wine is for meat sauce."

Emma feels blush furiously, so she returns to slice and chop the vegetables. When it’s over, Killian takes a huge pot and pours olive oil in it.

"I see you treat yourself well with food. No crap for you."

He smiles, picking the vegetables and pouring them into the oil. After a few seconds they start to sizzle and release an intense scent.

"Now, Swan, let’s pour the meat and brown it for a few minutes." Emma approaches him to observe the process. He takes the bottle of wine and pours about a glass and a half on the meat, continuing to mix. 

"Now that the wine is evaporating, add the tomato sauce." Killian stirres again for a few minutes, until the contents of the pot begin to simmer. Then she puts the lid on the pot and turns to her. "Now, Swan, let’s make some fresh pasta."

Emma opens her eyes wide. "Do you make pasta too?"

"Just the lasagna pasta, I usually buy it myself the other types." He frees the counter (and obviously cleans it with disinfectant, of course) and lays flour, eggs, salt and a pitcher of water on it. He begins to roll up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows and Emma silently thanks every deity in the universe for the image before her eyes. "Now, Swan, we need one egg for every 100 grams of flour. On this Ester has always been strict." Emma watches him weigh the flour and break the eggs, it is clear that he knows what he is doing and that he likes to do it. She sees him add water and salt and begin to knead. Emma didn’t really believe that cooking could be sexy, but watching Killian Jones with his hands dipped in pasta is awakening parts of her body that should not be manifesting their existence at the moment. "This is your turn."

He hands her the ball of dough and Emma begins to knead. "Is it normal that it is so hard?"

He chuckles. "A lot of things get hard when a beautiful woman puts her hands on them." Emma snorts and blushes, while, out of the corner of her eye, she sees him positioning himself behind her shoulders and wrapping her with his arms, laying his hands on hers and helping her to knead. "When things get hard, it’s best to work with a partner." Because of their position, Emma is forced to lean completely on him, from the shoulders to the beginning of the thighs. He’s flirting, he’s trying to tease her, but they can play two at this game.

Emma pushes her butt slightly against his groin and Killian moans deeply right next to her ear. He gives her the slight push back, pressing her gently against the edge of the counter. Emma is rather smug when she feels her erection at half mast pressing against her ass.

"Jones, this is not something you do between friends."

"There are friends with benefits. But you’re right." He turns away from her and she immediately misses him. She watches him go to the sink and wash his hands while she continues to knead.

After a few minutes she sees him take a rolling pin (Emma had never seen one, outside the TV, in her life) and watch him roll out the dough in a thin sheet. His arm muscles are flexing, and Emma wishes she hadn’t said anything sooner. Now he’s perfectly friendly again and the flirting is gone.

After finishing the pasta, he cleans and disinfects the counter again. "Now all we need is the béchamel sauce."

"What?"

"The béchamel sauce. It’s a sauce for-. Um. It’s too hard to explain. Let’s make it." He lays the flour on the counter again, along with butter, milk and nutmeg. He takes a small pan and pours in some flour and butter. "Now, Emma, stir until it thickens. Once done pour the milk and boil slightly." After a few minutes Emma rejoices satisfied with the result obtained. Killian dusts the surface with nutmeg and extinguishes the flame. "Perfect. Now we just have to let the sauce cook for a little longer and then we can assemble our lasagna."

"I thought it was really hard to do it, but it’s not."

He smiles at her, before turning to the kitchen and taking two glasses, filling it with wine.

"I thought wine was for meat sauce."

"Well, maybe I lied a little."

***

Emma, Killian and Henry sit at the table, while the two adults watch Henry taste the lasagna.

"Guys, that's great!"

Killian smiles satisfied, giving Emma a proud look that makes her blush.

"Go, Swan. Now it’s your turn to taste them."

Emma brings a fork of food to her mouth, inhaling the delicious scent they release. "Oh my God. Killian, it’s wonderful."

Killian scratches slightly behind the ear, a bit distracted by the moans emitted, unknowingly, by Emma.

***

The dinner takes place quietly, with the three chatting amicably about any topic, as their favorite food (Killian loves Italian cuisine and English cuisine, which reminds him of home, while Emma and Henry decide that, from that moment on, their favorite food is lasagna cooked by him. He blushes), or favorite animation movie (all three agree on Peter Pan and all three agree that the damned child is an asshole and that Captain Hook is the true protagonist of the story. Killian claims that, according to him, they were totally wrong in the representation of the pirate and that, he is certain, the man is actually handsome and charming. Henry says that pirates are always dirty, ugly and battered. Emma states that Killian would be a perfect modern Captain Hook. He blushes again).

***

When they finish eating, Emma tells Henry to say goodbye and thank Killian for dinner and sends him to their apartment to wash and go to bed. The boy snorts a bit, but obeys. When she turns her attention back on Killian he is looking at her with a strange expression. "Jones, what is it?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don’t know. I always have this feeling that we met before you moved here."

This time she shrugs her shoulders. "I’m sorry, but I don’t think it happened. I’d remember you."

He arches an eyebrow, amused. "Ah, yes?"

She snorts and blushes, before getting up and starting to clean up. He follows her, loading the dishes in the dishwasher. When they fixed and cleaned the kitchen (and he sprayed disinfectant everywhere), they move on the couch, with a glass of rum each.

Emma feels his gaze fixed on her as she watches the room around them.

"So, Emma, what are we doing?"

She looks at him. "What do you mean?"

"You know. Us. You left Henry’s father and literally asked me out the next day."

"Technically, it had been two days."

"Emma."

"Sorry. I like you, Killian. I really like you. And you confuse me, because I know you like me, but you reject me. Why?"

"I don’t know. I thought you had to be alone for a while."

"Did you thought? Don’t you think it now?" Emma feels hope growing in her chest.

"No, now I don’t think it. God, Emma, I like you too, so much. I think it’s never happened to me before. I’m scared. I want to be with you, but I’m afraid that at some point you might change your mind about me, that you might see that I’m not good enough for you."

"Hey, Killian. Look at me. Are you kidding me? You do a heroic job, you save people, you’re funny, when I’m with you, I find myself laughing like a little girl. You like spending time with my son. You know how to cook and, believe me, that would be enough. You’re so handsome. You’re charming. You have a great ass. Really, really nice. I like your arms. You have eyes that make my legs melt. Well, okay, I don’t know how you do in the bedroom, but I’m pretty confident in your skills."

Killian chuckles, slightly reddened. He approaches her, passing a hand through her hair. Emma leans towards him, who is meeting her halfway. When their lips touch, they both close their eyes and enjoy the moment. Emma hears him rise slightly, pressing her on the couch, while he tries to deepen the kiss. She allows it and when his tongue creeps into her mouth, she feels an enormous heat gathering in her body and between her legs. After a few moments they separate to catch their breath. Emma tries to kiss him again, but he stops her. "Calm down, Swan. No hurry." Emma snorts and he laughs. "We have all the time in the world, I want to take things slow."

She nods. "You’re right. And anyway, I have to go back, how much do you bet that Henry is in front of the TV instead of in his bed?"

He laughs, leading her to the door. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Swan."

"You have to stop escorting different women to your door and tell them you’ll see them tomorrow. I might get jealous."

He chuckles before placing a sweet kiss on her lips and gently pushing her towards her apartment.

***

In the Enchanted Forest.

Charming, Snow and Regina look through the magic mirror, anxiously waiting. Hook and Emma just kissed (Charming didn’t really want to see this scene), but nothing is happening yet.

"Why are we still here?" Snow asks.

"Perhaps the pirate is not your daughter’s true love." Grumble Regina.

"He is. Unfortunately he is." Snorts Charming.

"Regina, are you sure this spell can be broken by the kiss of true love?"

"Yes. Every spell can be broken by the kiss of true love. Something didn’t work. I have a hypothesis, but I’d like to study the spell more closely to see if there’s any hindrance."

"Tell us your hypothesis."

"Well, I’m not sure, but I think their cursed versions should fall in love too."

"They seem on their way to get there." Snow smiles extensively, forcefully embracing Charming.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning they find Killian waiting on the landing, leaning against the wall, next to their door. Emma smiles at him extensively, before stretching out to give him a kiss on the cheek. Henry pretends not to see anything.

"Don’t you have to go to work today?" Emma asks, taking him by the hand.

"Yes, but I wanted to say goodbye first."

"You won’t be late?"

"I am the Captain, Emma, my shift never ends and I am allowed a certain flexibility of schedules."

Emma smiles. "Do you want to come with me to take Henry to school?"

He nods, holding her hand.

***

After leaving Henry at school (and Emma tried to ignore the appreciation that other moms give to Killian), he finally kisses her seriously, making her soft knees. "I couldn’t wait to do it again, Swan. But I didn’t want to upset Henry."

She smiles at his concern. "Thank you. I talked to Henry, and he’s fine with us, so you don’t have to worry, you can kiss me whenever you want."

"This is great news. Swan, now I really have to go to work, do you want to accompany me? It takes about ten minutes walk from here." She nods before putting a gentle kiss on his lips.

***

When they arrive at the police station, Emma thinks he will greet her before entering, but Killian climbs the stairs without letting go of her hand. They enter the big building, and she sees Killian the buffoon become Killian the Police Captain. He looks taller, stiffer and more severe. But when he looks at her and winks at her, she sees that all his personalities are always there. They pass by a large desk where a female officer is sitting who seems vaguely familiar to her.

She knows who the woman is when Killian talk to her. "Good morning, Sandy." Emma looks at the woman, now totally anonymous hidden under the uniform of the order. Killian shakes Emma’s hand a little more, to reassure her and make her feel his presence. They walk to some small offices, until they stop in front of a door, whose name tag bears the name of Killian. 'Capt. Killian Jones'.

"Here we are in my kingdom, Swan!" He signals her to sit in one of the armchairs in front of his desk, while he opens a cabinet and pulls out a dark shirt. "Sorry, Swan, I’m gonna go change for a moment and I’ll be right back."

He comes back after a few minutes. He still wears jeans, but instead of the shirt of some English soccer team he now wears a dark, blue shirt. His shiny badge is hanging from his belt, while his shoulders are embraced by the straps of the leather holster, the butt of his gun peeks from his side.

"Hey, you look like a real cop now."

He blushes and leans out for a gentle kiss, interrupted by a clearing throat. Killian looks up to see who’s interrupting them. "Sergeant Mitchell."

The man nods his head. "Captain, Morris and O'Donnell are on their way, bringing in a suspect in the college student case."

Killian nods, looking for a file on his desk. "All right. Take him to the interrogation room and call me when you’re ready."

The man leaves, and Killian leans on the desk next to Emma. "I guess I have to leave now, Captain."

He shakes his shoulders slightly. "You can stay until they call me, if you like. Can we get a coffee?" He doesn’t wait for her answer, he takes her by the hand and leads her to the small relaxation room, a few doors ahead. The room is empty, but smells like freshly brewed coffee. Killian fills two cups and hands one to Emma, pointing at a small basket full of cream and sugar. Emma sits at the table, mixing an abnormal amount of dressing at her coffee, as she watches Killian approach a box of donuts on the small kitchen counter. After making sure that the box is not empty, he hands it to Emma to choose a donut first. Then he takes one too and sits next to her.

"So it’s not a movie stereotype that cops eat donuts and drink coffee." She makes fun of him.

"Apparently it’s not." He chuckles.

***

They spend a few pleasant moments in silence, only enjoying each other’s company, until the same former man, Sergeant Mitchell, returns to report to Killian that their suspect has arrived. Killian nods, gets out of his chair and hands Emma a hand. Together they return to his office, where he collects the previously prepared file. "I must leave you now, Swan. Do you want to grab lunch later? I’ll be on break around 1:00."

"What can I get you for lunch?"

"The diner across the street prepares our meals, you should just pick it up and get something for yourself. Put it on my tab."

"That’s not necessary, Killian."

"Please, please, Swan."

She nods, before kissing him (judging by the whistles and giggles, she’s kissing him with more passion than she thought, but she doesn’t care, and apparently he doesn’t care either). Emma walks to the exit, feeling slightly blush when she realizes that Sandy is studying her with obvious annoyance. Emma turns to look at Killian, but he is already walking towards the interrogation room to begin his work day.

***

Emma looks at her watch, it’s about five minutes to 1:00, and she’s sitting at a coffee table at the diner waiting for her lunch and Killian’s lunch to be ready. A few moments later, the mother-like woman hands her a large bag and greets her.

Emma crosses the street and enters the station, thankful that Sandy is not at her desk. Unfortunately, when she arrives at Killian’s office, she discovers that he is also not at his post. Emma looks up and down the hall, unsure of what to do. Luckily, she hears footsteps behind her and turns around and sees, for the third time in half a day, Sergeant Mitchell.

"The Captain left a couple of hours ago. Would you like to wait in the waiting room? Unfortunately, I can’t let you stay in your office while he’s away."

Emma smiles, understanding. She follows the sergeant to the waiting room, where she sits waiting for Killian to return. It must have been less than ten minutes later when you hear some chaos and some altered voices. It seems to her that one of the voices is Killian's. In fact, after a few moments she sees him leaning out the door and Emma realizes that he is injured.

"What happened to you?" She’s approaching to study the eyebrow cut.

"It’s nothing, Swan. A particularly lively suspect with a bigger band behind him, bigger than expected." Emma sees he’s got cuts in his left hand, too.

"Do you have an infirmary here?"

Killian nods and takes her by the hand, leading her to another door. Emma begins to think that he works in a sort of maze. She’s not sure she can find her own way out. The room, rather a closet, is packed with boxes of plasters, bandages and gauze, as well as disinfectants and ointments for bruises.

Emma sits Killian on the stool in the corner and takes cotton and disinfectant to clean up his wounds. He hisses slightly when the liquid touches his offended flesh and Emma chuckles. She puts a small white patch on his eyebrow and wraps his hand with a delicate bandage before leaning out to kiss him gently.

"Hey, if this is what I get for fighting, I’m gonna have to have one tomorrow."

She smiles. "You’re an idiot. If you weren’t hurt, you’d have a much better kiss than that." She emphasizes her words with a slight push on his chest, catching with the corner of her eye his suffering grimace. 

"There are other wounds." He looks away without answering. "Killian, answer me." He keeps quiet. "Open the damn shirt and let me see." He snorts, but he obeys.

Emma sees red marks, looks like kicks and fists, which tomorrow will be bruises, but it’s the dozens of scars scattered to attract her attention (with a slight sense of guilt, she realizes that she has already seen him without a shirt, but was too distracted by his good looks by noticing signs of old wounds).

"Emma, look at me. Please, Emma." She looks up and hooks her eyes to him. He can see the fear in her green eyes. "You don’t have to be afraid, Emma. I’m fine."

"Those are gunshots. Someone shot you. Many times."

"Yes, well, I’m a cop, Emma. It’s part of my job to be hurt, unfortunately. If we want to be together, you’ll have to be ready. They’ll hurt me again. I usually end up in the hospital once a year. I’ve been in police force for 10 years, well, 14 actually, including the four years I did in London, and I’ve been in the hospital 16 times, so quite often, I know. Not to mention visits to the E.R. I’ve never counted those, but they happen a lot. I risked dying for real once, thankfully, and I don’t intend to repeat the experience, but, Emma, please, don’t lock me out just for this."

She looks at him silently, before nodding and leaning for another kiss. "I’ll be ready, but please try not to get yourself killed or seriously hurt. I’m a fan of every part of you, even parts I haven’t seen yet."

Killian chuckles, arranging his shirt, before standing up and holding her hand, leading her to the break room for their lunch. Emma is still a little worried about him and how risky his job can actually be. But she is also falling in love with him, deeply and quickly, and wants to believe that, for once, life will not punish and hurt her, taking him away from her. For once, Emma will have faith.


	15. Chapter 15

In the Enchanted Forest - 6 months later. 

Regina heard a door open wide in the distance and snorted, knowing who was about to join her.

"Regina! Did you and Belle find something?"

"We are studying all the books that have been provided to us by all the magical users of the kingdom, they are really a lot and some are so old to be written in languages no longer used." Regina was beginning to feel the disconsolation pervading her heart. It had been about eight months since she had to say goodbye to Henry and the hope of seeing him became more feeble every day.

"David, when we will discover something we will inform all of you, but as far as we can read so far, this curse has nothing different than any other spell, so the kiss of true love should have broken it." Belle looked at Regina and they both exchanged a meaningful look.

"What is it?" The prince asked, noting him.

"I know you’re convinced that Hook and Emma are bound by true love, but maybe it’s time to start admitting that you might be wrong. Maybe it was Neal." Belle said.

Both Regina and Charming snorted loudly at that last statement. Neal was certainly not the true love of Emma. It was more than obvious to everyone and so did Emma and Neal, when they were still in possession of their memories.

Regina sat gracefully on a chaise longue, holding a large leather-clad tome in her hands. "This book was sent to us by the elves living on the north coast of the kingdom." The woman stroked the cover of the book with reverence. "I have never had access to the magic of elves before. I have never been granted it because it is one of the purest magic in the universe."

"Well, now you’ve changed and we’re all showing you confidence. Now give us a try, read that book and find out why something went wrong.

***

Several hours later, while all the castle residents were gathered in the dining room waiting for the arrival of Belle and Regina to be able to have dinner cooked for them by Granny, Belle broke into the room running, with the big elf book in her hands. A few steps further back, without ever giving up the royalty that distinguished her, Regina arrived, with a satisfied smile.

"Regina understood what went wrong in the spell!" Says Belle.

"Nothing went wrong in my spell. I simply ignored a part of it." Regina looked one by one at all the faces sitting at the table, anxiously waiting. "The kiss of true love is not enough. The victims of this spell must prove that they accept each other in their own lives no matter what path destiny has taken for them."

"So what’s that supposed to mean?" Snow asked, confused, giving voice to everyone’s feelings.

"I honestly don’t know. I believe that fate will put obstacles in their way, and if they can prove that they want to overcome them together, then and only then will the kiss of true love work. Considering that they are in the land without magic, I have no idea what kind of obstacles they will face." Regina replied.

"While Regina finished the translation, I looked through the mirror." Belle began. "I saw Hook with Henry." Belle looked at Charming, with an amused and sassy smile on her lips. "Hook is going to propose to Emma."

Charming gasped, rising from his chair with so much impetus that he dropped her. "How dare that pirate ask my daughter’s hand without first asking for my blessing?"

Belle chuckled. "Well, David, first of all, he doesn’t know he’s a pirate, but he’s living like a very honorable and heroic man. And second, as far as they know, Emma doesn’t have a father that he can ask for permission from. Which, by the way, he did."

"Sorry?" Charming stuttered

"Hook asked permission to marry Emma. To Henry."

Snow felt her eyes filled with tears from the commotion. "Aaawww. And what did Henry say?"

Belle chuckled again. "Of course he agreed. Tomorrow night Hook will propose to Emma."

Charming collapsed on the chair (which had been promptly put in place by the dwarves) and snorted, triggering a general laugh among the occupants of the room.  
.


	16. Chapter 16

Emma was sitting on a bench in Central Park, relaxed and happy. The last six months had been the happiest of her life. New York was the perfect city for her and she started to love her little apartment as well. She and Neal had built a solid and sincere friendship, sharing thoughts and feelings much more than they had ever done while in a mutual relationship. Every day, Henry gave her immense satisfaction and joy. He was an exceptional boy and always had an unshakeable faith in her. And then there was Killian. 

They had been together for about 6 months and when he had told her, 'I love you', three months earlier, she had felt melted and feared that her heart might explode from too much happiness. Emma couldn’t even remember what her life was like before her handsome captain walked in and upset everything. She loved him deeply and was deeply reciprocated by him. They hadn’t talked about the future yet, it was rather early, but she hoped to spend the whole life with him.

Still smiling, she took the phone out of her coat pocket to check the time and review the last messages Killian had sent her a couple of hours earlier.

'I can’t wait for tonight, Swan. I love you more than my own life.'

The message was accompanied by a selfie of Killian, smiling and winking, taken while he was sitting behind the wheel of his truck (of which he was tremendously proud), ready to return home after finishing his turn early. Emma had asked why he was leaving the station so early. 'Because I am the Captain and I can do it. ' After a few seconds he had sent a last message. 'Okay, I can’t do it, but on Monday I will recover the hours I’m not working today. I love you, Swan.'

Emma chuckled again, touching the photograph with her fingertips, slightly in awe of that guy, that man, who worshiped her and who seemed ready to give her even the whole world, if she had asked.

She began to collect all her belongings and set out for the underground car park where she had left her old yellow car to take a relaxing walk in the park.

When she arrived in their neighborhood she noticed the traces of an accident, now almost solved, if it were not for police officers still engaged with the latest surveys and the study of dynamics. Emma hoped for no deaths or serious injuries, but the presence of so many agents did not bode well. She shook her head, to eliminate those unpleasant thoughts and focused her mind on the appointment that awaited her with her handsome English Captain.

When she arrived at their landing, she knocked on Killian’s door for a quick goodbye. After a few shots, she surrendered to the idea that he was not at home at the time. She snuck out slightly and entered her apartment. She took a quick shower and wore a pair of jeans and a soft white sweater. She was about to pour herself a glass of wine when her phone rang.

She looked at the display and saw that it was an unknown number. As she grazed the green icon to answer the call, she felt fear gathering in her stomach.

"Hi?" Her voice came out faint and slightly broken.

"Emma Swan? Am I talking to Emma Swan?" It was a woman, with a cold and professional voice.

"It's me."

"Miss Swan, I’m calling from New York Presbyterian. I’m contacting you because we understand you’re Mr Killian Jones' emergency contact, can you confirm that?"

"What? Yeah, I’m his emerg- What happened?"

"I can’t give you any information on the phone, please meet us at the hospital as a matter of urgency." The woman, who seemed impassive and excessively cold, hung up, without even giving her a chance to add anything else.

Emma quickly put her shoes on, calling Neal (who was with Henry) to inform him that something had happened to Killian.

"Ems?" Neal answered immediately and Emma heard Henry laughing in the background.

"Neal." Emma wasn’t sure she could answer.

"Emma, are you all right?"

"I got a call from the hospital, something happened to Killian."

"What happened? Which hospital?" Neal waited for Emma to answer, but when he realized that she was unable to do so, he spoke to her again. "Emma, listen to me. Henry and I will pick you up and take you to him, all right? Stay calm, he'll be fine."

"I’m scared, Neal. I can’t lose him."

"I know, Emma, I know. You won’t lose him, I promise. Killian will be fine. Now get down on the street and wait for us there. We’ll be with you in 5 minutes."

Neal interrupted the call and Emma did what he told her. Less than 5 minutes later, Emma was already sitting in Neal’s car that, after setting the navigator to find the fastest way to the hospital, was trying to reassure her, supported by Henry, sitting in the back seat.

"Mom, what happened?"

"I don’t know. A woman called and told me to go to the hospital immediately. Since we’ve been together, he’s been hurt before, but he always called me to warn me. Not today. Something serious happened and he wasn’t able to warn me."

"Okay, Ems, take it easy. Maybe he wasn’t allowed to contact you, and now he’s doing his big captain voice, terrorizing all the nurses, because they wouldn’t let him call."

Emma chuckled in tears at the image of Killian, bruised and in his hospital gown, yelling at anyone in range.

They soon arrived at the hospital and Emma jumped out of the car before Neal stopped it completely. She ran to the emergency room counter and asked for information, providing her ID, while a woman approached her holding a folder in her hands.

"Miss Swan? I’m Luise Foster, I called you a few minutes ago. Please follow me to my office."

Emma followed the tall, middle-aged, stern-looking woman, entering a small, cramped office, consisting of an almost bare desk, with an armchair on one side and two chairs on the other side. On the desk was placed a very old and bulky annoyingly noisy computer.

"Miss Swan, unfortunately there was a very serious car accident involving Captain Jones."

"Is he dead?" Emma sobbed, but she needed to know if her hopes were completely vain and useless.

"No, he’s not dead, but he’s in pretty bad shape. Surgery is currently underway to stabilize his condition, but, Miss Swan, Captain Jones is in a coma."


	17. Chapter 17

Neal and Henry were waiting for Emma to get out of Mrs Foster’s office to find out what the hell happened. When the door finally opened they saw the two women coming out. Emma had her face stained with tears and reddened, while the other woman shook her hand to try to instill a little courage and strength. Mrs Foster whispered something to Emma, who nodded, before walking away and disappearing behind a door.  
Emma looked at Neal and Henry and burst into tears. The two stood up and supported her, leading her to a chair, where they sat her down and hugged her.

"Mom?" Emma looked into her son’s eyes, also in tears, worried about Killian’s fate. "Is Killian okay?"

Emma shook her head. "No, Henry. Killian’s not well."

"Ems, what happened? Someone shot him?"

"No, he wasn’t at work. He was on his way home and there was an accident. Oh my God, I think I saw him on the way home." Emma sobbed again.

"Mom, where’s Killian now? Can we see him?"

"He’s in surgery. I don’t really understand, sorry. They’re trying to stabilize him. Mrs Foster is looking into his condition, and then she’ll come back to me." Henry held her tight, and Neal grabbed her hand. "I have some paperwork to fill out, will you help me?"

The two nodded and Emma pulled a folder out of the bag and together worked on Killian’s file, until they arrived at DNR’s form. Emma picked it up and crumpled it, started crying again.

"Ems, stay calm." Neal took the paper out of her hands and tried to lay it out.

"No. Don’t put that paper in this folder, Neal, or I swear to God, I will kill you with my bare hands."

"I won’t, Emma, but you need to calm down."

"I do not intend to sign it, nor now ever. I want them to do everything humanly possible to save him and bring him back to me."

"All right, now let’s not think about this form."

Emma opened her mouth to answer when Mrs Foster entered the room.

"Miss Swan. Would you like to join me in my office?"

Emma shook her head. "Can we please stay here with them? They're my son and his father, my former partner. They’re Killian’s friends."

The woman looked at the group before nodding. "Follow me."

***

Once all four had taken up positions in the office (Neal dragged one of the waiting room chairs so that everyone could sit), Mrs Foster briefly studied her notes.

"So, Captain Jones is now undergoing neurosurgical intervention to reduce intracranial hemorrhage. He arrived in the hospital already in a coma and with respiratory function compromised due to several fractures in the thoracic cavity that resulted in a pulmonary contusion resulting in slight bleeding that we are monitoring and draining since at the moment it would too risky to undergo a second surgery. He suffered an unstable pelvic fracture that is currently stabilized with an external structure, but in the next few days he will have to undergo orthopedic surgery to avoid problems with walking." The woman looked at the three in front of her waiting for questions, which she knew would come.

"When do you think he’ll wake up from the coma?"

Mrs Foster sighed out. That question was asked every time she was in situations like that and like every other time she had no answer to give.

"Miss Swan, I understand your question and your distress, but I think you know I can’t give you an answer. It could only take a few days or a few weeks. It could take months."

Emma nodded casually. "Or he may never wake up again."

"Yes, unfortunately there is also this possibility."

"Do you have any idea about the possibility of brain damage?"

"Until he wakes up, we can’t go out on a limb. However, I can advise you to be ready to face very serious consequences."

Emma felt her eyes filled with tears again. "For example?"

"Motor or language difficulties. Cognitive deficits. Memory loss or mental confusion. Epileptic episodes. Personality alterations. Psycosis. In cases like Mr Jones’s, it’s not uncommon for coma to evolve into a vegetative state."

Emma nodded, thinking of Killian, so full of life and vibrant energies being reduced to a sort of shell of himself.

Mrs Foster, after giving her a few moments of silence, spoke again. "Soon the surgery will be over and he will be moved to the ICU. If you’d like to see him for a few minutes, I can have a nurse take you."

Emma nodded vigorously before the woman dismissed them.

***

It was about an hour before a nurse approached their group.

"Miss Swan? Come with me, I’ll take you to the ICU."

Emma suddenly got up and followed the young woman down the hallway, up to an elevator that took them to another long, cold hallway. They passed several closed doors, until the nurse stopped in front of one of these doors and turned to Emma.

"Are you ready?"

Emma nodded and the two women entered.


	18. Chapter 18

Emma took a big, deep breath as she walked through the door of Killian’s room, greeted by a series of regular beeps. The bed was in the middle of the room, surrounded by a frightening number of machines monitoring Killian’s vital signs and keeping him alive.

As she approached, her attention was drawn to a kind of cage placed at the height of Killian’s flanks and the sight of the offensive structure made her eyes fill with tears again. He was clearly naked, protected only by a thin blanket, which protected him from hips to feet.

Emma stared at his naked chest and saw the large bruises that had already formed at the height of his ribs. She saw a large rectangle of gauze covering the entrance of the drainage cannula and observed the little tube, stained with blood, end over the opposite side of the bed, where, she assumed, a bag collected the drained material.

She looked at his strong arms, which she loved deeply, covered with cuts and only then, finally, looked at his face. He had thick bandages (she tried to ignore the big red spots) that covered him from the forehead to the head (Emma wondered if they had shaved him before the surgery, but of course they had, and thought about how angry he would have been if he had been aware of the outrage suffered by his beloved hair) and was connected to a respirator through a frighteningly large tube.

Emma heard the nurse leave to give her a few minutes of privacy. She dragged a chair by the bed, and dropped herself next to him. She looked at him for a few moments, before reaching out a hand to touch his. Killian’s hand was cold and lifeless, like a puppet’s hand. That hand that had held her side that morning while they were making love, was now abandoned on a bed, still and icy.

"I hate you. You said you’d never leave me and instead you lied like everyone else. I wish I never knew you." Emma started crying again. "Sorry. It’s not fair that I talk to you like this. I know it’s not your fault. I know you don’t want to be in this bed. Killian, please, please, wake up. I can’t be without you. Really, wake up and go home. Wake up, open your eyes and tell me this is all a joke."

Emma heard the door open and, turning around, saw the nurse enter with a middle-aged doctor.

"Miss Swan, this is Dr Brown, the neurosurgeon who performed the surgery."

Emma nodded to the man who gave her a warm smile of encouragement.

"Miss Swan, right?" When Emma confirmed, he went on. "I understand that now the situation seems rather tragic, I understand, but brain bleeding has almost stopped, so we’re pretty confident we don’t have to operate again. I spoke to the thoracic surgeon, and the hemorrhage also almost spontaneously stopped. The orthopedic surgeon will review it tomorrow morning to see if it’s necessary to anticipate the pelvic fracture surgery." Emma stared at him inexpressively and the man smiled amused and understanding at the same time. "Miss Swan, that’s good news. Based on the current situation, we just have to wait for him to wake up so we can assess any damage and if necessary how to intervene."

"Doctor, please be honest, do you think there will actually be damage?"

"It’s hard to say. When he wakes up, he’ll have a lot of work to do. There may be deficits, but the severity is unthinkable until he regains consciousness. With that much therapy, he might even recover enough to live an almost normal life."

Emma nodded. She knew that was the best she could have. The nurse approached her gently and Emma understood that she had to leave the room. You should have left Killian alone in that cold room.

***

In the Enchanted Forest

Snow wiped her tears at the sight of Emma leaving Hook’s room in the ICU. She looked around, in the hall of mirrors, and saw that only Regina and Charming were still in the room.

Initially all residents had gathered in the room, to attend Hook’s proposal to Emma (and even to mock Charming), but when the situation had begun to become more tragic at every minute that passed, slowly, people started giving privacy to Emma’s parents.

Snow looked at Charming, who kept his head down and his hands on his hips. She approached him, hugging him from behind, and putting his head on his shoulder.

"Regina?" Whispered the little woman.

The other woman turned to look at her. "What?"

"Do you think this is the test they’ll have to pass, or is it just a terrible coincidence?"

"You heard what the doctors told Emma. They’ll have to be ready to face hell. It’s not the kind of test I imagined, but it’s actually appropriate for the land without magic. Emma will have to agree to stay with him despite the conditions in which he wakes up and Hook, on the other hand, must allow it, without driving her away to avoid wasting her life next to a potential invalid."

"It’s a terrible thing. It’s an almost impossible test."

"Yes, it’s a tough test, but once they’ve broken the spell and we can rejoin them, I can fix whatever damage Hook’s brought back. I can fix him. They just have to get to us."


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning Emma woke up, hoping it was all a bad dream, but she had to face the harsh reality when she found Neal and Henry already awake and clothes waiting for her in the kitchen. Neal had spent the night on the couch, not trusting to leave her alone after the terrible day at the hospital. Emma got dressed in a hurry and together they reached the hospital again.

A nurse was escorting her to the ICU when a woman, another nurse, stopped them, claiming to ask the medical staff if it was possible to access the visitor. The two women seated Emma in a bare office waiting for the arrival of the doctor.

A few minutes later, several people entered, led by Dr Brown, the neurosurgeon.

"Miss Swan, meet Dr Kalisakis, the thoracic surgeon, and Dr DuBois, the orthopedic surgeon."

Emma nodded to the two men in greeting. "Why are we here?"

Dr. Brown looked into her eyes before talking to her. "There were complications during the night. An edema formed, that is fluid accumulated in the intracellular spaces of the brain tissue, which led to an increase in intracranial pressure by interrupting the flow of oxygen to a part of the brain. We put him through a new procedure and drained the fluid and the blood."

Emma didn’t cry, she had the impression that the tears were exhausted. "What does that mean?"

"It means that now we have the certainty that when he wakes up, unfortunately, there will be important deficits."

"If he wakes up."

"Yes, if he wakes up. Regarding my colleagues, I leave the floor to them. Dr. Kalisakis?"

The thoracic surgeon took the floor. "The thoracic bleeding spontaneously stopped, so it will not be necessary to intervene. The lungs have suffered a minimal laceration that we’re already treating and the entire respiratory system is responding well."

Emma nodded, offering a sad smile to the doctor. She looked towards the orthopedic surgeon waiting for the man to speak. "Pelvic surgery is unfortunately necessary, but at the moment it is still too risky to submit Mr Jones to it, so we will keep the external attachment and administer a specific antibiotic to avoid infection."

"I understand. Can I see him?"

Dr Brown nodded and led her to Killian’s room.

***

There was a comfortable-looking armchair by the bed, and Emma sat there uncomfortable. Someone had made Killian wear a hospital gown, he also had the blankets tucked up to his chest, with his arms uncovered and left on the sides of his body. She grabbed his hand, intertwined her fingers with him.

"So, today is a bit more complicated than yesterday, but, hey, don’t worry. We’ll think about the consequences when we get there. Now you must strive to survive and wake up. At that point we can fight together against the obstacles we will encounter. I will never leave you alone, Killian, because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so you have to wake up and then I will help you heal. I’m gonna take care of you until you’re okay again, and then we can forget about this and move on with our lives." She paused to look out the window, without ever leaving his hand. "I want to have a baby with you, Killian. Even more than one .I want a girl you’ll always be jealous of and always be your princess. I want a boy you’ll teach to play basketball. I want to marry you. I want to buy a house by the sea. I want to grow old with you. I want to make fun of you for your first white hair." She looked at him taking a break before getting up to kiss him on the bandaged forehead. "I love you, Killian."

Nothing happened. Not that she expected anything to happen, that wasn’t a fairy tale and she wasn’t a princess. She was Emma Swan and that was her fucking life.


	20. Chapter 20

The nurses kept telling her that they were confident, that he would soon wake up, but it had been 14 weeks and Emma was really starting to feel discouraged. Even Dr. Brown was beginning to be doubtful and less optimistic.

The bandage on the head had been removed a few weeks ago and Killian’s soft hair had grown back, and even the respirator tube had been removed long ago, replaced by a less invasive mask. The bruises and cuts were healed and now he just seemed asleep. The external fixator for the pelvis was also removed a few weeks after the orthopedic surgery.

***

Emma spent the days sitting next to him, by now she had made friends with all the nurses in the department and even doctors often stopped to chat to distract her a bit. Even that morning had passed like all the others, she had met the doctors who had reassured and comforted her and had gone to the nurses' box to drink a coffee in their company, and then go back to his side on the comfortable chair that they had provided and immerse herself in reading a book.

Emma’s stomach grumbled slightly, indicating that the lunch hour was near, so she closed the book and placed it on the window sill, ready to join the nurses in their relaxation room to have a quick meal with them. She was about to get up, when she glanced at Killian. She almost screamed when she saw, after months of waiting, his eyes open. The blue gaze she loved so much was fixed in the void, lost and confused and devoid of the usual vibrant energy that normally distinguished them.

Slightly panicked, Emma leaned on the door and called Janice, the nurse on duty at the bar that morning. "Janice! He’s awake!"

The woman immediately ran into the room, warning another colleague to summon the medical staff. Janice approached the bed and looked at the monitors, nodding satisfied, before looking at Killian. "Hey, blue eyes, welcome back." Killian remained motionless, his gaze was lost in the void and Emma felt her heart sinking.

Janice saw the anguish on the blonde’s face and grazed her shoulder. "Emma, don’t worry. It’s perfectly normal that after a long period of coma, the patient shows no sign of consciousness. Just like Killian."

At that time, both Dr Brown and Dr DuBois entered the room, and they both joined the bed, examining and touching various parts of Killian’s body.

It was Dr. Brown who spoke. "His pupil is reactive and he’s starting to follow the sounds with his eyes. These are good signs that the awakening is still going on. Before you ask, Emma, there’s no fixed timing, it could take days or just a few hours."

Emma smiled at the man. "All right."

"You can stay here, it is a good thing that he sees a familiar face and hears a familiar voice, you would help him to remain calm and avoid the panic that, inevitably, will try to fully awaken."

"I don’t intend to move from that chair, you’ll have to force me out."

Everyone chuckled out of the room and left Emma and Killian alone.

***

"So, welcome back, my love." Emma again took her seat on the armchair, bringing it as close as possible to him, and weaving her hand with him. They just stood there for hours. And suddenly his gaze, that intense blue that had always made her think of the ocean on a sunny summer day, hooked up to the green one of her and Emma had the distinct feeling that he was really seeing her. He confirmed it when, after a few seconds he opened his eyes wide and the ECG detected an increase in heartbeats.

Janice and Dr Brown ran into the room and after a quick look at the monitors chuckled.

"Well, now we can officially welcome him back. Ah, Emma, apparently he recognized you." said the doctor, amused.

Emma felt blushing furiously, as joy exploded in her heart: Killian had awakened and recognized her.

"It’s good to finally see you awake, Killian. You’re gonna make a real mess of my nurses with those blue eyes." He added the man, giggling. Then he got serious. "Killian, listen to me. I know you’re confused and you’re probably afraid, but we’re gonna fix this. Can you please move any part of your body?"

Killian turned his eyes to the ceiling, focused, but after a few moments he closed his eyes, resigned. Emma saw a tear running down his cheek.

"No, no, Killian, don’t beat yourself up. It’s perfectly normal for you not to be able to move now. Do you think you can talk?"

Eyes on the ceiling, eyes closed, tears.

"All right. We’ll get there. Now I’m going to touch some points of your body, I want you to look me right in the eye if you feel my touch. If you don’t feel anything, look at the ceiling, okay? Let’s try."

Dr Brown touched his right foot. Killian looked at the ceiling.

Left foot. Ceiling.

Knees, right and left. Ceiling. Ceiling.

When Dr Brown laid his hand on his right side, Killian opened his eyes wide, frightened.

"Okay, we can say that you felt this and you felt pain." The doctor paused. "Do you know what happened to you?"

Ceiling.

"You had an accident and suffered severe head trauma and a severe pelvic fracture. You underwent orthopedic surgery and your injuries are still on the way to recovery, which is why you felt pain. Now I would like to let you rest a bit. Later or tomorrow I’d like to run more tests and introduce you to your physical therapist to begin recovery therapy. Don’t be afraid, you won’t be here alone. Emma, don’t be shy. You’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks, come on." The doctor came out, followed by Janice who winked at Emma.

Emma took up her seat next to him, unsure of how to behave.

"Hey. Do you recognize me then?" She asked.

He stared at her.

"Is that a yes? I’m not sure I understand how to communicate."

He looked at her, unable to help her.

"It doesn’t matter. You’re awake and that’s enough for now. I love you."

He looked at her.

"Did you feel much pain?"

He looked at her. 

"Do you want me to call a doctor?"

Ceiling.

"Do you want some time alone to rest?"

Ceiling.

"Good. Are you scared?"

He looked at her. Of course he was afraid.

"Can I hold your hand?"

He looked at her. Emma touched his hand and smiled at him.

"Can you hear me?"

He looked at her.

She saw him focusing on something and then surrendering in despair.

"What are you doing?"

He looked at their braided hands. Emma wept. He had tried to move his hand to touch her.

"It doesn’t matter. You will."

He looked at her. She saw the promise in his eyes.

Then again, he closed his eyes, focused. Emma sobbed when she heard the very light quiver of his fingers.

"You did it. Do you want to try again?"

He looked at her.

They tried again several times. Sometimes he could not move, sometimes there was again the slight flicker of the first time.

***

Janice returned shortly after, bringing a tray for Emma with a coffee and a couple of donuts. "How’s it going?"

Emma smiled happily. "He recognizes me. He tried to shake my hand."

"That’s great news, Emma." Then Janice came up to Killian. "Now Killian I’m going to take off your mask. Let’s see if you can breathe alone and without help, okay? Don’t be scared if you don’t succeed. Then we’ll put on the mask and try again in a few days. Okay?"

Janice gently took off the mask, while Emma watched with increasing concern. For a few moments he seemed unable to breathe, until he finally managed to swallow an enormous breath and slowly managed to regulate the entire respiratory act. Emma felt the tears of pride and joy accumulate in her eyes.

"Emma, you must be very proud of this man. Good, Killian. Now keep breathing deeply. And you should rest a little. In the meantime, can Emma still stay here with you?"

He looked her in the eyes. Of course she had to stay.

Janice smiled at Emma, winking at her amused, before going out.

Emma sat down again in her armchair, with the tray with the snack resting on her legs. She didn’t realize she was so hungry. She hasn’t been so hungry in weeks.

"Do you mind if I eat?"

He looked at the ceiling and Emma looked like he was trying to smile.

"Are you hungry?"

Ceiling.

Then she saw him again concentrating, staring into the void and slightly opening his lips, but no sound came out. Killian looked away, didn’t look at Emme or the ceiling.

"Killian?"

He ignored her.

"Killian, look at me."

He kept ignoring her.

"Killian, please. Never mind. You can try again. You’ll succeed"

He looked at her briefly, before looking at the void with angry glances. Then he decided to try again. He briefly looked at their still-tied hands and opened his lips. At first only a gasp came out and he continued to try, until a single feeble word fell from his lips.

"Emma."


	21. Chapter 21

"Emma."

Emma suddenly got up and pressed her lips against his, in a desperate and awkward kiss, to which he could not answer, except with the simple opening of his lips. But she didn’t care.

He was still alive.

He recognized and remembered her.

He said her name.

She knew that so many difficulties awaited them, but he was there, he was there and together they would face anything.

"Killian, I love you. I’m so happy to hear your voice again."

He looked at her with a sort of crooked smile (the crooked smile was his characteristic, when he flirted with her, and now it was only slightly more pronounced).

***

The next day she saw him for a short time. When she arrived at the hospital in the morning he was still asleep and when she saw him with his eyes closed, she winced with so much strength and pain to wake him up.

He opened his eyes wide and laid them on her, following her around the room and moving her head slightly.

A few minutes later, he was taken away for various visits, exams and tests and it was only at lunchtime that he was brought back to his room.

He seemed exhausted.

He was joined by Dr Brown, with his medical records in his hand.

"Good morning, Emma." She smiled back. "We worked a lot this morning and now we have a more accurate starting diagnosis. We can rule out the presence of cognitive deficits, Killian is lucid and reactive, able to understand every question or order that is placed. There are small communication difficulties, but I believe that they are completely transitory and that in time it will manage to express itself in a way I would say perfect. All I ask is that you be patient on this matter, I know it will be frustrating, but you will soon be able to speak without difficulty. On the motor level things are more complicated. The upper limbs, the head and the neck have a reduced mobility due to the long immobilization. With good therapy, we should see good results in a couple of weeks. It’s just a matter of getting the body back on the move and recreating the muscle mass lost in the coma. With regard to the lower limbs we have detected the presence of a paresis, that is the presence of a total deficit of voluntary motor activity. Potentially it is a reversible situation, but in this particular case I do not see any significant improvements."

Emma looked at him confused. "What-what does that mean?"

"It means that, unfortunately, it’s very likely that Killian is no longer able to walk. He could recover an acceptable motility in his legs, but not enough to allow him to walk. I’m sorry."

Emma sobbed. "But you said it’s a reversible situation."

"Yes, potentially it is, but Emma, not in his case."

Killian grunted, drawing their attention.

"Emma, I know you’ve been through a hell of a time, but his recovery is almost miraculous: the chances of him suffering more damage and much more serious were very high. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shot like his in almost 30 years of my career."

Killian growled again and Emma and the doctor stopped talking, embarrassed by their discussion of his condition as if he had not been present at all.

***

After about three weeks of hard and intense therapy, Killian had recovered some good language skills. Sometimes he stuttered or had to think intensely to a word to be able to express it, other times, more rarely, instead, he seemed perfectly normal, able to make jokes and even rather long speeches without the slightest hesitation.

Even the strength in his arms was practically back, now he was able to sit down unaided, eat and hug Emma. And just hugging Emma was what he wanted to do at the time, but she wasn’t there yet. He knew she’d be here soon, and Henry would come with her.

He hadn’t seen the boy since the day before the accident, when he asked permission to propose to Emma. With a gasp, he wondered if he had said anything to Emma during those months. His mental journeys were interrupted by the opening of the door to which followed the strong embrace that the child gave him.

"Killian! I’m so glad to see you!" His sweet puppy eyes were full of tears and Killian had to look away from it in order not to imitate it.

"Henry, my boy."

Emma dragged a chair to each side of the bed and both sat down.

"So, Henry, how have you been these months?"

"Not too well. Mom was so sad and worried, and so was I."

Killian lowered his gaze before speaking. "I-I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry I m-m-m-made you worry."

Henry looked at Emma and she shook her head, reassuring him.

"I had to do a research of London, can I bring it to you next time?"

Killian smiled extensively. "You have to bring it to me absolutely. I really want to see what you wrote without my supervision."

Henry chuckled. "My geography teacher said that the one about England was more accurate. I told her that unfortunately my english friend was in the hospital and so he had not been able to help me. He said when you feel better, if you want, you could come and tell us about your country."

"I will gladly come as soon as they let me out of this bloody place."

Henry laughed again.

They chatted about various topics, until lunchtime, when Emma left the room to reach the hospital bar to buy lunch for her and Henry, leaving her two men alone.

When she returned, after a few minutes, she heard them talking and stayed on the door to listen.

"Henry, did you t-t-t-tell your m-m-m-mother about the p-p-p-prop-p-p-p-posal?"

"No. You can do it now, now that you’re okay you can-"

"No. I-I-I’m not gonna d-d-d-do it."

"What? Why? Don’t you want to marry her anymore? Don’t you love her?"

"Of course I ll-l-l-love her, and that’s why I cc-c-c-can’t m-m-m-marry her."

"I don’t understand."

"I c-c-c-can’t b-b-b-block her in this l-l-l-life, in my c-c-c-condition. She d-d-d-deserves to be happy and I c-c-c-can’t do it anymore."

"It’s not true. Do you want to leave her?"

Killian sighed heavily and just at that moment Emma entered the room. When he looked into her eyes he understood that she had heard everything.

"So now is the time when you will dump me?" She asked with more anger than she would have wanted and should have.

"Emma, p-p-p-please I-I-I- Fuck! I c-c-c-can e-e-e-exp-p-p-plain-" He snorted humiliated by his difficulties. "I-I-I l-l-l-love you, but we c-c-c-can’t be t-t-t-together anymore."

"Does my opinion count for anything, or did you decide all by yourself? Because if you wanted to hear my opinion, well, you’d know that I don’t give a shit if you can’t walk anymore, because I can adapt to be with you. That’s what I want, in case you’re interested."

Emma picked up the bag and signaled Henry to come out. Killian reached out, trying to stop her, but obviously she escaped.

"Fuck."

***

In the Enchanted Forest

"What? That damn pirate wants to leave my daughter?" Charming shouted.

"And here’s where I would have thought you might be happy that he stood aside." Regina snorted.

"David, please, he’s not leaving her because he doesn’t love her. He’s doing it the other way around." Snow tried to calm him down.

"I know, damn it, I know. I know he’s making the noble and selfless choice, but he’s also breaking her heart, and we need them to be together."

"He’ll retract his steps. He’ll reconsider." Snow sighed, hoping she was right.


	22. Chapter 22

The next day Killian waited a long time for Emma. It was only in the middle of the afternoon that he resigned to the fact that she would not come. On the one hand, he was happy that she was so angry with him that she didn’t want to see him, but on the other, he had hoped that she would fight a little, that she would try to convince him to give them a chance.

But maybe she’d show up the next day, once the rage cleared out.

She didn’t come. And she didn’t come the next day either. And neither did she come the next day.

The nurses and Dr Brown had tried to investigate, but he responded grudgingly and eventually gave up.

***

In the Enchanted Forest

"Of course your daughter surrenders immediately. I understand that the pirate is annoying and that he is also in this version, but, damn it, she said she wanted to spend her life with him and then she gives up immediately, so?" Regina muttered.

"Well, he said he didn’t want to be with her anymore, he made it clear, we all heard him." Charming protested.

"Yeah, well, he said that because he thinks he’s being convicted in a wheelchair and he doesn’t want to ruin her life. None of you see the great gesture of love he’s making? Is it possible that I am the only one, I who am the evil queen, to see that Hook, one of the worst and most evil pirates in all worlds, is sacrificing his own happiness so as not to get in the way of your daughter’s life?"

"Regina, of course we see it, but his decision put more and more distances to the break of the spell."

"Not because of Hook. He is giving a proof of love. Your daughter, on the other hand, is not fighting for him. She’s not showing that she wants to be by his side. Emma is the one who’s failing, not Hook."

***

Four weeks went by Emma never showed up again and he wanted to be able to go back in time not to say those things he regretted the moment she left his room. But he knew the reason for those words. He was really afraid that she would stay by his side, in fact, he was sure that she would stay, and that’s why he had to leave her. He had to leave her to allow her to live her life. Although this decision would ruin hers.

He looked at the resignation letter in his hands. After over five months in hospital, he was ready to go home. He looked at the wheelchair, his future prison, and shook his head. His life was over, but he could only hope that Emma’s life was going forward and happier than his.

At that moment Sergeant Mitchell entered his room accompanied by Sandy, the people he had called to take him home. He thought about asking Emma for help, but it wasn’t the case how things got interrupted between them.

"Captain." The sergeant greeted him.

"You can call me Killian, I don’t think I’m in the police force anymore."

Sandy and the sergeant looked embarrassed. Then they looked away in the wheelchair and were even more embarrassed.

"Killian, come on?" Sandy asked, trying to break the embarrassment.

He nodded, beckoning to approach the chair. "I do it myself." He grumpy muttered.

Leveraging on his arms he lifted slightly, resting his feet on the ground and collapsing on the chair with a puff. The other two looked at him puzzled. "What? I’m not paralyzed, my brain just no longer controls my legs as before." They nodded and then they both headed for the exit.

***

Emma was cooking dinner for herself, being Henry at Neal’s house, when she heard noises on the landing and voices annoyed. She opened the door, and for the first time in months, she saw Killian at the door of his apartment.

"You came home!" She said with a smile.

He opened his eyes wide when he heard his voice. "Yeah, Swan, apparently they did everything they could with me."

Emma winced at her words, but tried not to get caught up in sadness. "Do you need something?" She glanced at the two people with him, Sergeant Mitchell, who sadly smiled at her and Sandy, who watched her victorious and with an eyebrow raised.

"No, Swan. Thank you." He fumbled with the keys and finally entered through the door of his own apartment.

He expected to find dust and smell of closed house, but instead it was clean and fragrant.

"I kept it clean and tidy for you."

Killian turned around and saw her at the door, embarrassed. "You can come in, Swan." Then he looked at her two former colleagues and thanked them. "You can go now, thank you. I can do it myself now." The two looked at him as if they could not believe a single word, but they did as requested and left the apartment.

When they came out and the door was closed behind him, Killian sighed, lowering his head and leaning his chin to his chest.

"So, how are you?"

He looked at her confused. "How do you think I could be? I have no idea how to wash up, or make me dinner or anything else."

"Killian. We’ll find a way."

He opened his eyes wide. "We?"

"I’m your neighbor and your friend, so, yeah, we’ll figure out a way to make this work."

He nodded, without looking at her. "I’m sorry, Emma." He looked up at her, but she looked over his shoulder. "I should have told you how I felt. But I didn’t want to force you to take care of me. Not like that."

"Didn’t you want me to take care of you? You know, when two people are together, when two people are in love, it’s normal for them to take care of each other. It wouldn’t have bothered me."

"I know, that’s why I had to push you away. You shouldn’t spend your time taking care of me, you should be out there enjoying life. Maybe find you a good guy and have a family with him. Obviously, I can’t be this guy."

"Why not? You’re a good guy and we could still have a family. The doctor said you can still make lov-"

"I know what the doctor said. I know I can, but it’s not right to force you into this kind of life."

"And I thought I could decide what’s best for my life."

"That’s not what I meant, and you know it."

"Yes, I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that I love you and I want to be with you. Maybe this whole thing is an excuse for you not wanting to be with me anymore."

"What? Emma, I love you so much, you know. I was gonna ask you to marry me, and now I’m stuck on this deal, and I need someone to help me shower because I can’t fucking do it alone. What life could I possibly offer you?"

"The life I want, I want you, I don’t care about everything else." Killian looked at his hands, they trembled slightly. Emma approached him and knelt to the ground, so that their eyes were more or less at the same height. "Look at me, Killian. Tell me you don’t love me and then I will accept your decision. But only in that case."

He looked at her with his head tilted. "I can’t say it. You know I can’t."

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yes. I love you and you love me and you love me so much that you want to marry me and you love me so much that you’re willing to give up on me so you don’t ruin my life. Your words, not mine. I love you so much that I’m willing to take care of you forever and I love you so much that I want to marry you and have kids with you, so what do you say, Killian, we want to give ourselves a chance?"

He looked at her for a few seconds, before leaning out and kissing her gently. The wave of magic that overwhelmed them almost left them stunned. They separated and looked each other in the eye.

"Hook?"

Killian looked at his own legs. "Bloody hell."


	23. Chapter 23

Killian leaned out and kissed her gently. Emma felt a sort of surge of energy overwhelming her and clearing her mind. When she opened her eyes, she never saw Killian again.

"Hook?"

She saw him open his eyes and look at his own legs.

"Bloody hell."

Emma panicked and ran to her apartment.

She didn’t just say what she thought she said, did she? She couldn’t be in love with Hook. He was a pirate. He was a villain. But he was also Killian, her sweet, romantic and passionate (ex?) boy. Who had almost proposed to her to marry him. And that now he was stuck in a wheelchair. God, she was such a horrible person!

She took a deep breath and, bravely, returned to Killian’s apartment. Hook’s. Whose apartment was that?

She opened the door and found him still sitting in his wheelchair, cursing loudly.

"What are you doing?"

"I was trying to get up, I thought this accident thing was part of this spell, but apparently, Swan, I’m a cripple really."

"You’re not a cripple."

"No? What would you call me?"

"I don’t know, I- wait, what are you doing here? Regina only sent me, Neal and Henry."

"Apparently I was sent here to help you break this bloody cursed spell so you can get back to your bloody family."

"You had to help me? How?"

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "How, Swan? Really? Don’t you know how to break spells?"

She blushed and opened her eyes wide. "With the kiss of true love. What? Wait, no, that’s not possible. We kissed a lot of times when we were just Emma and Killian, remember?"

He looked away and nodded sadly. "I remember. Are we no longer Emma and Killian?"

"Well, no, we’re not. Now we’re the savior and the pirate. I’m Emma Swan and you, well, you’re Hook."

"I get it."

"Oh my God, we saw Peter Pan together. You saw how they depict you in this world!" Emma chuckled nervously.

"Shut up, Swan. You know your father is represented by wearing leggings. No, let’s erase the image of Dave wearing leggings, for God’s sake." Emma laughed openly now, and he looked at her smiling. "Emma-"

At that moment, the door to Killian’s apartment burst open and Henry and Neal entered.

"Mom! You’ve broken the spell- oh, hello Killian- Hook- um, what should we call you now?"

Killian shrugged, but before he could talk, Neal started protesting. "God, Ems, did you leave me for him? He’s like 200 years older than you."

"Shut up, Bae, I’m just a little over 20 years older than you."

Neal snorted. "Yeah, well, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I was sent here to do what you obviously couldn’t do, mate."

Neal laughed at him. "Do you think you helped break her spell? You’ve been together for months and nothing happened. You’ve just become a burden to her. Look at you now."

"Dad!" Henry whispered in shock.

"Neal, you’re a fucking asshole, go to your home." screamed Emma.

Neal tried to protest, but the scorching glances of Emma and Henry convinced him to leave.

"Damn coward like his father, that bloody crocodile." Killian muttered.

"Killian-" Emma tried to get his attention.

"No, Swan. I’d like to be alone. Well, with my rum, maybe. Please, Swan, go away."

"But-"

"Swan, go away. I don’t want you here. Go away."

Emma felt like he slapped her. She left his apartment and she and Henry went back to theirs.

"My life sucks." She whispered.


	24. Chapter 24

In the Enchanted Forest

"Well, so now that they have broken the spell what will happen? How will they reach us?" Charming asked.

"Now it’s our turn. We have to open a portal or find a magic bean or something that can transport us into that world. Storybrooke should be back by now. Once we’re back in Maine, we can contact them and Emma and Henry can come back to us." Regina answered him.

"And Neal and Hook?" asked the Prince again.

"Well, if they want to come back, I guess they can, too. I have an idea. Check if the giant brought with him some beans or some plants. I have to look for a person."

"Who are you looking for?"

"We need a means of transport to get to Storybrooke all together. It's just happen we have a pirate among our friends. And a pirate owns a ship."

"But Hook is in New York."

"His ship no. Let’s get it back to him. His first officer will help us on our journey."

***

Emma knocked lightly at the door of the apartment and when she heard a gruff voice from inside, she opened the door to find Killian, Hook, in front of the window. He wasn’t wearing the same clothes as the day before, and his hair looked damp, so he somehow managed to wash and dress.

"Hey, you got washed and changed."

He looked at her annoyed. "I learned to get by when my hand was taken off, now I will learn to get by without being able to use my legs."

"I didn’t mean it like that, but yesterday you seemed so worried about being dependent on someone."

"Well, yesterday I didn’t remember being Captain Hook." He lifted his left arm and Emma saw that the hand had disappeared and his brace with the metal appendage had returned to its place.

"What happened to your hand?"

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, amused. "I thought we talked about it."

She snorted. "I meant now. Where’s your hand?"

"I guess it was part of the spell, and now that we’ve broken it, my hand’s gone, too."

"I am so sorry."

"I don’t mind. Now I know who I am. I’m no longer that pathetic man-"

"Killian wasn’t pathetic." She looked at him with her eyes wide open. "He was a man of honor, strong and brave. Passionate. Sweet and romantic."

He chuckled. "Well, I’m sorry he’s not here anymore. But if it’s the passion you want, I can satisfy you." He wiggled her eyebrows, licked his lips.

"You are disgusting."

"Yesterday I was passionate and today I am disgusting. Damn, woman, you know how to confuse a man."

"No, that’s not true. I wish Killian was still here."

"Well, love, I’m Killian. I’m just the real version of it, I’m sorry that ruined your plans."

"No, you and Killian only share the physical aspect. Nothing else."

"If you say so."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Swan, you don’t know me. You don’t know who I really am, you don’t know anything other than what your delicious little blonde head has decided. You don’t know how much of me there was in Killian Jones, and you don’t know how much of him is in me, so please keep these judgements to yourself if you don’t care who the hell I am."

"I am so sorry."

"All right, Swan, now, please, can I be alone?"

"Yeah. Well, no."

"No?"

"No. I need to talk to you. Now that the spell is broken, do you think it’s possible to go home?"

He looked over her shoulder. "I don’t know. I guess we could find out if Storybrooke’s back."

"Okay. I’ll pack and then we can go. Do you need anything in particular?"

"I’m not going, Swan."

"What? And why?"

"Look at me, Swan. Do you think I can go back to my old life like this? You think I can get my crew back together and they’ll obey me? Do you really believe that?"

"You don’t have to be a pirate. You can be anything else."

"Here again. Thanks to the spell I now know how to live in this world. Somehow I will."

"Hook, you don’t have to be here alone." He shrugged his shoulders. "Killian wouldn’t do that.

"That’s a bad move, Swan."

"Well, I’m not going to leave you here alone, so I’ll use the wrong moves, too, if that’s what it takes."

"Why do you want me to come?" He turned to look at her, waiting for her answer.

"I don’t know. I just need you to be there with me. I need Killian and Hook to be by my side."

"Why do you need him- me?"  
"I need Killian because I love him. And I need Hook because I know you love me, and I need someone to love me in this shit-hole life."

She watched him lower his head, thoughtful. "All right, Swan. I’ll go with you."

Emma looked at him smiling. "Good."


	25. Chapter 25

Emma threw the phone on the table, nervous. They had tried calling the phone number of Granny’s diner and had exulted when they heard the sound of the available line. But no one answered.

"Why does no one ever answer?" She asked, annoyed.

"Well, Swan, maybe they’re not back yet? It’s not easy to travel from one world to another, you know."

"So you think they’re looking for what? A bean? A compass? Damn, Regina’s with them, it shouldn’t be that hard."

"It is, Swan. Do I need to remind you of our first adventure together?"

Emma blushed, thinking back to when they had climbed the beanstalk together. She thought back to when he had bandaged her hand using his mouth and felt her cheeks burning. She heard him giggling and when she looked at him she saw a mischievous grin accompanied by an eyebrow raised.

"What?" She asked irritated, trying to regain control of herself.

"You seemed engrossed in your thoughts. And if I’m allowed to be a little impertinent, I think I know what those thoughts are."

"I don’t think so."

"Do you believe? You were thinking about when I used my mouth to bandage your injured hand. Wrong?" Emma felt even more blush. "No, I’m not wrong, apparently." 

He chuckled again and Emma snorted. "That time you caught me off guard, you’re an attractive man and I haven’t been so close to a man in ages. It would have happened with anyone."

He laughed again. "If that makes you feel better, you’re free to think so. But I remember really passionate encounters a few months ago."

"It was different."

"In what way?"

"I don’t know. You weren’t you."

"Oh, no, in those moments it was me. You told me several times that when we made love I was completely different. That you couldn’t keep control and that you liked it. It turned you on that I had all that power over you."

"It wasn’t you. It was Killian."

"Swan, I told you, I’m Killian. Without the romantic and cheesy side. But, believe me, Swan, when we were in bed, well, you were fucking Hook. Just like you wanted to do on top of that plant."

"You’re so full of yourself. Your real personality sucks." Emma muttered, moving away.

He shrugged his shoulders and so Emma could not see his wounded look.

They tried every day for almost a month to call Granny’s number, until one day, finally, someone answered. Emma hung up without talking, excited and scared.

"They are back."

The three pairs of eyes in the room looked at her in amazement. 

"So are we ready to go home, mom?" 

"Yes, Henry. We can pack."

The boy cheered, raising his fist to the sky, making everyone in the room giggle.

"Ems, I’m gonna go pick up my things, too. I’ll see you later, we’ll get something to eat, and then we’ll go, okay?"

The blonde nodded and Neal left the apartment. 

Henry was in his room storing all his comics and video games, while Emma was still sitting on the couch.

"Swan? Are you okay?" Killian asked her, not far away.

"I’m overwhelmed, but I’m fine. I want to see my parents. I miss them."

He smiled sweetly at her. "Tomorrow you will be in their arms."

She nodded. "Oh, we have to pack your bags too. Is there anything you want to bring in particular?"

He shook his head. "I would say no. I would have gladly brought my car, but as far as I knew it was bloody destroyed. Not that I could have driven it, anyway."

"Hook- Killian, I’m sorry."

"Killian?"

"Yes, Killian. You said that you are the same person and in these weeks I saw some of him, some nods. You’re a little rougher than he was, but sometimes I see him. You keep him a little hidden, but he’s still there." He smiled, blushing slightly. " Maybe Regina can do something about your situation."

"Maybe. But I don’t know if I want it."

"Don’t you want Regina to heal you?"

"I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to go back to my old life."

"I thought you liked it."

"It was the only life I’d ever known. But now I’ve lived in this world, I know about showers, cars, Netflix, cell phones. And women dress much less here."

"So Captain Hook wants to trade his life for the average American?"

"I don’t know, Swan. Maybe."

"You should get treatment anyway. And then you can decide to be who you want to be and live where you want to live."

"You are right. I could not go back to New York, it would be too complicated to explain how I started walking again and in the meantime where my hand ended, but, in any case, I could go and live anywhere. I could start a new life. Maybe I could have a family."

"A family?"

"Yes. Are you surprised that I might want a family?"

"A little bit."

"Well, I might find a nice girl e-", Killian looked at her, noticing her wounded look. "Swan? What happens?"

"You- you want a girl. I thought-"

"What did you believe? You said, and you did it very clearly, if I may say, that I’m not what you want, so, Swan, what did you believe? Did you expect me to spend the rest of my life alone crying over our lost love?"

"No. But I thought you’d never give up. I thought you’d fight for me."

"Are you asking me not to give up? You want me to fight for you?"

"I don’t know."

"Swan, I’m confused. I need to know what you want so I can act one way or the other."

"I really don’t know."

"Well, Swan, if what you want is that I not to give up on you, I will. You know I would. You know I love you and I would do anything for you, but you said you didn’t want me. No more. So tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it. If you want me to fight for you and not give up, I will. If you want me to back off, I will. But you need to talk to me and tell me what you want me to bloody do."

"I don’t know, Killian. I want to go back to a few months ago, when we were happy and when you wanted to marry me. I’d like to go back to the days before your accident, when you were fine, when we loved each other, even if it wasn’t true-"

"Wasn’t that true?"

"Well, we weren’t ourselves-"

"It was damn true, Swan. We didn’t remember our past, but everything that happened since we met was real. I fell in love with you in Neverland and I fell in love with you in New York. I’d fall in love with you anytime, anywhere."

"Killian-"

"No, don’t interrupt me. Maybe in Storybrooke you didn’t love me, but here you did. And it wasn’t the result of some spell or charm. You just loved me. You knew me and you loved me. Well, yeah, an alternate version of me, but you still did. We loved each other because it was meant to happen. Not because the Evil Queen decided to play with our lives. Absolutely not. We loved each other. You can’t deny it and I will never let you do it. Don’t deny or belittle what we had, because, Swan, you would break my heart like never did in my life. And you know it happened many times."

"You’re right. It was true. I loved Killian. I really loved him, and I miss him."

"Swan, I’m always here. You said you saw hints of his personality in me."

"It is not enough for me. I want him back in my life, but he is lost forever."

Hook opened his mouth to answer, but right then Neal entered the apartment. "Are we ready? I got cheeseburgers for everyone. Let’s eat and then we can go on the road?"

Emma nodded, ignoring the wounded look on Killian’s face.


End file.
